Steps to Get Started

 

Welcome to CU Boulder! New students must complete the following steps to enroll in courses hosted on the Coursera platform and access online resources at CU Boulder. 

 

Important Steps Before You Can Enroll in Courses 

  • Watch for an email with instructions on how to claim your Identikey. 
  • Click on Activate My IdentiKey on the left side of the screen. 
  • Enter your Student ID (in your Identikey email). 
  • Set your password. 
  • Set up multifactor identification. 
  • Save your IdentiKey and password. You will use them to log into online CU Boulder resources. 

Need help? See OIT’s IdentiKey page for more instructions or contact the IT Service Center at oithelp@colorado.edu or 303-735-4357. 

Log into your CU Boulder email and check this account regularly.  

  • Log out of any other Exchange or Outlook Accounts. 
  • Set up multifactor authentication if needed. 
  • Check this account regularly. All official CU Boulder communications will be sent to this email address. 

Need help? See OIT’s Outlook on the Web page for more instructions or contact the IT Service Center at oithelp@colorado.edu or 303-735-4357. 

Steps to Choose Your Courses 

  • Log into Buff Portal with your IdentiKey and password. 
  • Click the “Enroll Now” button. 
  • Select the for-credit course(s) you want to enroll in. 
  • We recommend enrolling in one course to start. 
  • Check the session calendar before enrolling to ensure you can complete all course content by the posted deadlines. If you are unsure, we strongly recommend waiting for the next session to enroll. 
  • You can come back to this page at any time to enroll in additional courses. 
  • Complete checkout and pay. Your enrollment will not be finalized until your payment is processed. 
  • See your session start and end dates and a list of your enrolled courses in Buff Portal. 

Need help? See OIT’s Buff Portal page for more instructions or contact the IT Service Center at oithelp@colorado.edu or 303-735-4357. 

Important Steps to Access Your Course(s) After You Enroll 

If this is your first time enrolling in a CU Boulder for-credit course hosted on Coursera, you must complete steps 4–7 below. If you are a current or returning student, skip to step 6.  

 

New Students Only 

Check your new colorado.edu email for a linking invitation email from Coursera. Look for the subject line “ACTION NEEDED: Link your Coursera account…”. Follow the steps to link your Coursera account. 

 

If you are having trouble accessing your CU Boulder email, see Outlook on the Web or contact the IT Service Center at oithelp@colorado.edu or 303-735-4357.

 

If you haven’t received your linking email, please check your junk and spam folders. If you still need help, contact your program for assistance. (See your Student Program Information card in Buff Portal for details.)

You must login to coursera.org and complete and pass the non-credit student onboarding course before you can access for-credit content for the first time. You only need to complete this course once. Bookmark the course so you can refer back to it when you have program questions. If you are having trouble accessing your onboarding course, contact your program (see Need Help below).

If you have completed all steps above and still need help accessing the required onboarding course, please contact your program for assistance. (See your Student Program Information card in Buff Portal for details.)

Continue to step 6 below. 

 

 

Current and Returning Students
  • The course(s) you enrolled in will be added to your Coursera account once the session begins. See the session calendar.
  • If the session you enrolled in is already in progress, your courses should appear in your account within 24–48 hours.

If you have completed all steps above and still need help accessing the required onboarding course, please contact your program for assistance. (See your Student Program Information card in Buff Portal for details.)

  • Upgrading from non-credit to for-credit? Remember you must unlock restricted content and complete additional coursework to earn a grade and avoid automatic withdrawal.
  • Meet all deadlines. Schedule all proctored exams and submit peer-graded assignments at least 72 hours prior to the class end date. Not all exams are proctored. All for-credit coursework must be submitted by the last day of the 8-week session you enroll in. See the session calendar.
  • Tuition cannot be carried over to future sessions.
  • Final grades are posted about 1–2 weeks after the end of each 8-week session.

Need help? Please contact your program for assistance. (See your Student Program Information card in Buff Portal for details.) 

 

 

Need to Drop or Withdraw? 

If you have not accessed restricted content (i.e., the final exam or final assessment) AND have not received a grade in the class, you may be able to: 

  • Drop your class for a full refund. Your transcript would show no record of the class. 
  • Withdraw from your class without a refund. Your transcript would show that you withdrew from the class with a W grade. 

See the session calendar for drop/withdrawal deadlines. More information about drops and withdrawals on the Office of the Registrar’s CU Boulder on Coursera page.