Alumni Email Accounts
CU Boulder discontinued the alumni email program on Aug. 31, 2026.
The alumni email transition and all opportunities to request extended or temporary access have now concluded. CU Boulder communicated the changes to affected account holders multiple times throughout 2026 and provided opportunities for eligible alumni to request continued or temporary access before the applicable deadlines.
At this stage of the transition, affected accounts and their associated data have been deleted and are no longer available for access or recovery. As a result, we are unable to provide additional access, extensions or exceptions.
We understand that the loss of access to a longtime colorado.edu account may be disappointing. For additional context about this transition, this project website provides information about the changes, timelines and previously available options.
If you have feedback about this change, please send an email to alumniemail@colorado.edu.
Information for Alumni in Modified Email Program
Following a settlement agreement, CU Boulder extended access to eligible alumni email account holders through at least Aug. 31, 2027, while we assess the long-term viability of the offering. Eligible alumni were required to take proactive steps by Aug. 31, 2026, to access this modified email program, which has some differences from the prior alumni email program.
Eligibility Criteria
To be eligible for extended email access, alumni must have met and continue to comply with all of the following requirements:
- Recent active use
Alumni must have actively used their colorado.edu email account during the period from Aug. 31, 2025, through Aug. 31, 2026. Active use is defined as authenticated human use of the email account to send, receive, read, organize, or otherwise manage email. - No automatic forwarding
Alumni must not enable nor configure automatic forwarding from their colorado.edu email account to another email account. - Acceptable use and security policies
Alumni must agree to comply with all applicable University of Colorado and CU Boulder IT policies including but not limited to Acceptable Use of CU Boulder’s IT Resources and eCommunications Policy. - Multi-factor authentication
Alumni must use multi-factor authentication as required to access their account. Failure to satisfy authentication requirements may prevent access to the account. - Storage limit
Alumni must keep their colorado.edu email mailbox at or below the 15GB storage limit starting on Aug. 31, 2026. - No misrepresentation or fraudulent use
Alumni must agree not to use their colorado.edu email account for fraudulent activity or to obtain access, discounts, software, services, systems, facilities, benefits, or other resources intended only for current students, faculty, staff, employees, or other authorized university affiliates. This includes, but is not limited to, using the account to access "student discounts" or other eligibility-based benefits. This also includes not using the colorado.edu email address, account, display name, signature, or related credentials to impersonate or misrepresent a current student, faculty member, staff member or employee. - Ongoing active use requirement
Alumni must remain active users by logging in and taking action within their account at least once every 90 days. The university will monitor compliance with this ongoing activity requirement, as well as the storage limit and automatic forwarding requirements.
Failure to comply with any and all of these requirements, including misuse of the account, misrepresentation of affiliation, failure to remain an active user, or violation of applicable university IT policies may result in suspension or termination of the account.
Alumni with colorado.edu email addresses who did not wish to extend their access or who were ineligible to do so were advised to move important files and emails to a personal account before their access was discontinued on Aug. 31, 2026. To ensure they continue to receive updates about career resources, alumni news, events, travel programs and more, alumni were also encouraged to update their alumni contact information to use a personal email address.
Key Information
- Future graduates and those who graduated after Dec. 1, 2025, will retain access to their colorado.edu email account for one year following graduation. Visit the Accounts & Eligibility - Alumni page to learn more about post-graduation access to university IT services.
- If you graduated on or before Dec. 1, 2025, applied for extended access to alumni email by the posted deadline, and received an email indicating that your request was approved, you must maintain your eligibility (see eligibility criteria above) in order to retain access to your alumni email account through at least Aug. 31, 2027.
- You can find more information on the Alumni Email FAQ page.
Prepare for Account Deactivation
If you are a recent graduate whose account is still active, 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 is not able to recover email data after it is deleted.
After Account Deactivation
- Provide the Alumni Association with a personal email address that the university should use to keep you connected with important university communications, such as alumni news, events and updates. At any time, you can go to the Alumni Association's Update Your Information page to provide your personal email address.
- Update accounts that use your colorado.edu email address. If you connected your CU Boulder email account to any websites or third-party services, you should update them to use a personal email account.
How to Get Help
If you have any questions about this change, visit the Alumni Email Service Change Project FAQ page or contact the IT Service Center at oithelp@colorado.edu or 303-735-4357.
Please note that the Office of Information Technology does not provide support for third-party applications. Questions about transferring emails and attachments should be directed to the vendor.
