Changes to the Alumni Email Service
In alignment with peer institutions, CU Boulder will end the alumni email service on Aug. 31, 2026. New graduates will retain access to their CU Boulder-provided email address for at least one year. Click the button below for details.
Features
Students who graduate from CU Boulder are entitled to the following IT services:
Who can get it
All students who graduate from CU Boulder.
How to get it
Upon graduation from CU Boulder, alumni automatically retain their IdentiKey account and Buff Portal access.
CU Boulder alumni who don't have an IdentiKey can request one by contacting the IT Service Center.
When & how your access will change after graduation
As soon as your degree or certificate posts to your transcript (which happens approximately one month after commencement or your degree conferral date), OIT begins to adjust your IT services according to the timeline below. Expand each section to learn which services are available during that period.
During the first three-month period, if you regain a role (e.g., student, employee) that entitles you to a higher level of IT services, this process will stop and you'll be automatically provisioned with the appropriate IT services for your new role. See the "If you return to CU Boulder" section for details.
Months 1–3: No service changes; save your Microsoft & Google files
As soon as your degree(s) post to your transcript, you'll receive an email from OIT telling you that your Microsoft 365 license will be downgraded from a student license to an alumni license in 90 days.
Use this time to finish your What to do before you lose access tasks, including saving important files from your CU Boulder Google and Microsoft accounts.
Months 4–12: Email-only access; save important emails
Three months after your degree or certificate posting date, you'll be adjusted from a student license to an alumni license. When that happens, your access to IT services will change as follows:
| Original License | Temporary License | Services Retained | Services Adjusted | Services Discontinued |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Student | Alum | IdentiKey, Buff Portal | CU Boulder email storage reduced to 50GB | Microsoft 365 Online, Microsoft OneDrive, Microsoft 365 desktop apps, Google Workspace, Google Drive, VPN service |
In summary:
- You will lose access to Microsoft 365 desktop apps, Microsoft 365 online apps except for Outlook on the web, and Google services. At that time, OIT will permanently delete your Microsoft OneDrive and Google Drive files.
- The storage quota for your email account will decrease. If your email storage is over 50GB, your email account will be read-only until you get under the quota. To check your current usage, see Outlook on the Web - Check Mailbox Usage and Quota (OIT tutorial).
Month 13 onward: Buff Portal services only
One year after your degree or certificate posting date, your Microsoft license will be deactivated. Your IdentiKey will remain active, allowing you to continue to order transcripts and access other alumni services through Buff Portal.
| Temporary License | Final License | Services Retained | Services Discontinued |
|---|---|---|---|
| Student | None | IdentiKey, Buff Portal | CU Boulder email |
What to do before you lose Microsoft & Google access
Once your degree or certificate posts to your transcript, you'll have three months to review your Google and Microsoft files and complete the following steps.
Move important files to personal storage
Transfer files you need to keep to a non-CU Boulder location, like a personal hard drive or cloud storage account.
- Microsoft OneDrive - Download Files to Your Computer (OIT tutorial)
- Google Drive - Copy Content from Your School Account to Another Account (Google tutorial)
Note: OIT can't help you transfer files to a personal storage location or recover them after they've been deleted.
Transfer ownership of shared files
If you own any shared files that are still being used by others, be sure to transfer ownership to a current CU Boulder student or employee.
- Microsoft OneDrive - Transfer Ownership of Shared Files (OIT tutorial)
- Google Drive - Make Someone Else the Owner of Your File (Google tutorial)
What to do before you lose email access
You'll have approximately one year after graduation to use your CU Boulder email account and complete the following steps.
Provide the Alumni Association with a personal email address
To stay connected with important university communications, such as alumni news, events and updates, go to the Alumni Association's Update Your Information page now to provide your personal email address.
Transfer the emails you wish to keep to a personal account
Transfer the emails you wish to keep to a personal email account. We recommend a number of ways for you to transfer the emails you wish to keep to a personal account.
Please note that CU Boulder will not be able to recover emails from your CU Boulder email account after Aug. 31, 2026.
Change your contact info for external services that use your CU Boulder email address
Identify any services that use your CU Boulder email address as a primary or backup contact method and update those accounts before you lose email access. The service may send a confirmation code to your CU Boulder email address to ensure the request is legitimate.
If you return to CU Boulder
If you return to CU Boulder in a role that entitles you to expanded IT services, OIT will provision them automatically. Whether you can access your pre-graduation Google Drive and Microsoft OneDrive files or email data depends on how much time has passed since your degree posted to your transcript.
Within three months of degree posting: Data is available; most services are active
If you regain eligibility before the date specified in your latest OIT email about changes to your Microsoft services, this process will stop and you'll be automatically provisioned with the appropriate IT services for your new role.
If your new role is different than your old one, you'll need to compare the lists of eligible services to determine which, if any, will be lost:
Any IT services you're entitled to in your new role will remain active. If your email or cloud storage capacity is lower than before, any services that exceed the new storage quota will be read-only.
Between three months and one year after degrees post: OneDrive & Google data was deleted; most non-email services are disabled
If you regain eligibility after the date specified in OIT's email about changing to an alumni Microsoft license, you should expect your previous IT services to have been deactivated and your non-email accounts deleted.
When you're onboarded into your new role, OIT will reactivate services and provision new accounts as needed.
For additional information, refer to the webpage for your new role:
More than one year after degrees post: Email data was deleted and email services are disabled
If you regain eligibility after the date specified in OIT's email about deleting your CU Boulder email account, you should expect your email account an all associated Outlook data to have been deleted.
When you're onboarded into your new role, OIT will reactivate services and provision new accounts as needed.
For additional information, refer to the webpage for your new role:
