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Getting Started

New to CU Boulder on Coursera? Create your CU Boulder on Coursera student account using the Student Account Creation Form.

IMPORTANT: Account creation can take up to 2 weeks. Submit the form well before you plan to enroll in courses. 

When completing the Program Declaration and Learning Goals section:

  • Recommended: Select Electrical and Computer Engineering.
  • You can change your program later.
  • If you select Undeclared, you will have course support, but not program support.

Identity verification

New students must submit a national ID to verify their identity before becoming a CU Boulder student. Exact documentation varies by country, but typically includes passports, national identity cards, or drivers’ licenses.

Due to U.S. export control laws and regulations, individuals who are not U.S. persons must verify both identity and citizenship before enrolling in this program. 

At this time, the University of Colorado accepts only a valid, unexpired passport as documentation to verify identity and citizenship for non-U.S. persons. 

For enrollment purposes, a “U.S. person” is a U.S. citizen, a lawful permanent resident, or a protected individual as defined in 8 U.S.C. § 1324b(a)(3). All other applicants are considered non-U.S. persons. 

Applications submitted by non-U.S. persons without a valid, unexpired passport may be denied enrollment.

After creating your account and your ID has been verified, you will receive an email from the Office of Information Technology (OIT) with your Student Identification Number (SID) and instructions on how to activate your IdentiKey (which will be your CU login name) and password. You will use your identikey to access online services and applications at CU Boulder. 

  Activate Your Identikey 

Didn't get the email from OIT? Email oithelp@colorado.edu for help locating your Student Identification Number (SID).

After activating your IdentiKey, you will need to set up your CU Boulder @colorado.edu email account. All official forms of communication will be sent through this account.

  Activate Your CU Email 

Go to your Buff Portal and log in with your CU Boulder IdentiKey to enroll in a course and pay tuition ($667 per credit hour). Tuition is due at the time of enrollment. You will receive a confirmation message within an hour once your enrollment has been processed. 

Course tuition may vary depending on the college.

It is helpful to have the MS-ECE Curriculum page open while you are enrolling.

In Buff Portal Enrollment:

  • Click Course Registration
  • Under Any Subject, select ECEA
  • Add the course to your cart

In Your Cart:

  • Click Continue to Enrollment
  • Pay tuition
  • Click Submit Registration

How to Confirm You’re Enrolled

  • Black check marks: You are enrolled
  • Blue cart icon: You are not registered. The course is still in your cart. Double-check your enrollment in Buff Portal or your Degree Audit.

Visit the Bursar's Degrees on Coursera for more information about payment, account statements, and refund policies.

Important! Link your CU email to your Coursera account to:

  • Gain access to the MS-ECE Student Onboarding Course
  • Allow CU Boulder to grant credit for the work you do in Coursera

To get started, open the linking invitation email from Coursera with the subject line “ACTION NEEDED: Link your Coursera account…”. 

  How to link your Coursera account 

Before accessing for-credit content for the first time, you must pass the free, non-credit CU Boulder MS-ECE Student Onboarding Course.

  • You only need to complete this course once.
  • We recommend bookmarking this course so you can refer back to it when you have questions about the program.

Your for-credit courses will be available in your degree learner area in Coursera after you complete the onboarding course. Log in with your CU credentials to access them.

Keep the following in mind:

  • Your enrolled courses will be added to your Coursera account once the session begins. If the session is already in progress, your courses should appear within 24–48 hours. For class start and end dates, visit the Session Calendar.
  • Schedule your proctored exam at least 72 hours before the class end date.
  • Tuition cannot be carried over to future sessions. All for-credit coursework must be submitted by the last day of the 8-week session you enroll in.
  • Final grades are posted two weeks after the end of the 8-week session.

All CU Boulder students must complete the mandatory Community Accountability training online inCanvas. This non-credit online course covers university policy and resources addressing discrimination, harassment, and sexual misconduct. Students also learn skills for helping bystanders and supporting friends to prevent and respond effectively to harm.

Important:The Community Accountability course is only required after you are admitted to the MS-ECE program. You will only be able to access the course at the beginning of the semester after you are admitted. For example, if you are admitted after the Spring 1 session, the course may not appear until Summer 1. 

The course will automatically be added to your Canvas dashboard when you are due to complete it. Failure to complete the course by the deadline will result in a registration hold on your account.

After logging in, the course should appear on your Canvas dashboard. If you don’t see it listed, select Courses, then All Courses. Contact OIEC if you have trouble accessing the course.

  Complete Community Accountability

Students will be discontinued in the following scenarios:

  • The student completes the Personally Identifiable Information (PII) form during their first term but does not enroll in that term.
  • The student begins the program but does not enroll in a course for two consecutive years.
  • The student enrolls but drops all classes during the initial drop-with-refund period of their first term.

What does this mean?

Your access to the Onboarding Course in Coursera will be suspended. You will not be able to access non-credit or for-credit courses in Coursera.

How can this be resolved?

Curriculum after reinstatement: Students who return after being discontinued will follow the curricular requirements in effect during their reinstated term of enrollment.

Leave of absence: Students in CU Boulder on Coursera programs are not eligible to apply for a leave of absence when not enrolled in courses.

General Information

The Buff Portal is known as the student portal that will serve as a one-stop-shop for students to find the important resources such as managing transactions, viewing class schedule, checking current status, and much more.

  Buff Portal Features 

Upon first logging into Buff Portal, students must consent to conduct business electronically during their time at CU Boulder. 

  Log in to Buff Portal 

Final grades are typically posted about 1–2 weeks after the session ends. See the Academic Calendar for specific dates. 

To receive a grade, you must unlock the final exam by completing the Honor Code quiz in the final module of the course.

To find your grades:

  1. Log in to Buff Portal.
  2. In the Grades & GPA tile, select Class Grades.
  3. Select the relevant term to view your grades.
  4. Select the class name for additional information.

The MS-ECE on Coursera program is unique among graduate programs at the University of Colorado Boulder in its modality, admissions policies, course design, and has a number of special policies. These policies are listed in the student handbook.

  Student Handbook 

Drop and Refund: Each student may drop a class if they are within 14 days from the class start date or their enrollment date (whichever is later) and have not accessed the proctored assessment. When a course is dropped under the conditions listed above, it will not appear on the student’s record.

  Drop a course 

Withdrawal: Students who request to drop the course after the 14-day period and have not accessed the proctored assessment may withdraw from the course but will not receive a refund. When a student withdraws from a course under these conditions, the student will receive a grade of W on their academic record. W grades have no bearing on the GPA and credit total.

  Withdraw from a course 

This policy only applies to admitted students (successfully completed a pathway specialization) on the MS-ECE degree program. Admitted students can replace up to six credits in the cumulative GPA calculation. In this process, all courses attempted will still appear on the transcript, but only the last attempt will be calculated in the cumulative GPA and credit totals.

To get started, visit the Retake a Course for Grade Replacement website.

Obtain a copy of your tuition statement and 1098T Tax Form. 

  Account Statements 

The Office of the Registrar can provide confirmation of enrollment or degree status for current or former students.

To get started, send an email to reg-specialprograms@colorado.edu.

Before ordering the official CU Boulder transcript, students must check for holds by logging into the Buff Portal. If there are financial obligations with CU, the student transcript will not be released. 

  Student Transcript 

Note: Click on the "Students with an IdentiKey" button to get started.

 

CU Boulder is proud to offer the certified electronic diploma (CeDiploma). Students who complete an official certificate program also have the option of downloading a certified electronic certificate (CeCertificate). For more information, visit the Certified Electronic Doplomas & Certificates website.

Note: CU Boulder issues both diplomas and graduate certificates 3x a year - July, October and February.

  Download your CeDiploma & CeCertificate 

Professional Conversations give MS-ECE students the opportunity to hear directly from industry leaders about their careers, roles within their organizations, and experiences in the field.

  Professional Conversations 

Graduation

  1. Log in to Buff Portal and confirm your status in the Your Programs & Enrollment card. If you’d like to make changes to your status, proceed to Steps 2 & 3.
  2. In the More Items section of this card, click the CU Boulder on Coursera Program Action Form.
  3. Select Declare or Permanently Discontinue a Program at the top of the form, check the box(es) for the program(s) you wish to declare, and submit the form.

Note: You can declare your intention to seek the degree before, during, or after any work in a pathway specialization

  1. Complete at least one Pathway Specialization for-credit with a cumulative grade-point average (GPA) of at least 3.00 to get admitted;
  2. Complete a minimum of 30 for-credit hours which includes a pathway specialization with cumulative GPA of at least 3.00 for all for-credit courses taken to date.
  1. At the start of your final, 8-week session, send an email to msece-support@colorado.edu for details about participation in the next graduation ceremony.
  2. Attend the graduation ceremony (optional).

You will receive a congratulatory email about three weeks after your final 8-week session concludes.

You will receive your diploma around two months after you complete your course work.

You should verify both your name that will appear on your diploma, as well as the address your diploma will be mailed to in your Buff Portal. You will need to Update Your Contact Information if your name and/or home address are not listed correctly before the session deadline.

You also have access to a Certified Electronic Diploma & Certificate (CeDiplomas/CeCertificates). Go to the electronic diplomas & certificates card in Buff Portal and click the "Access your CeDiploma/CeCertificate" link to access CeCredential Trust, an approved third-party vendor of CU Boulder. Please see CeDiplomas/CeCertificates for additional information regarding electronic diplomas.