ChatGPT at CU Boulder

The University of Colorado System recently announced a system-wide partnership with OpenAI to provide ChatGPT Edu access to eligible CU faculty, staff and students across all four campuses and the CU System Office. This is a unified system initiative; access and core functionality will be consistent across each campus, including CU Boulder.

This transition brings several important benefits. First, it ensures equitable access to advanced AI tools so that every member of the CU community, regardless of department resources or funding, can engage with cutting-edge technology. It also supports CU Boulder’s priority to foster the success of students, faculty and staff.

ChatGPT Edu offers a more secure and privacy-aware environment than the public version of the generative AI tool. While we know that the public version of ChatGPT is already widely used by CU Boulder students, faculty and staff, ChatGPT Edu ensures that CU data is not used to train public models and is handled according to the university’s data privacy expectations.

OIT will continue to share updates, offer training and provide support to help the entire CU Boulder community navigate this change with confidence. This page, as well as the ChatGPT at CU Boulder FAQ will be updated regularly during the transition to answer common questions.

Timeline & rollout plan

Although ChatGPT is well-established and ready for technical deployment, the rollout of ChatGPT Edu on campus will occur in phases to ensure careful vetting and a thoughtful implementation that supports a wide range of users and needs. While details on timing are being finalized at the system level, the timeline below provides a general sense of what the CU Boulder community can expect:

  • Environment launch and testing:Starting in early 2026, campus staff will configure the ChatGPT Edu environment for our campus and a limited test group will receive early access to help test functionality, gather feedback and guide campus readiness efforts.
  • Broad Campus Access: Following the configuration and testing phase, base-level access will be extended widely to eligible CU Boulder students, faculty and staff. System-wide planning anticipates general availability sometime in late March 2026.
  • Advanced Feature Release: More complex capabilities, such as Deep Research, advanced reasoning models, API access and similar tools, will be introduced in fall 2026, once the CU System determines availability and support requirements.
  • Training & Readiness Resources: Before gaining access, users will be required to complete a brief Percipio training. Additionally, CU Boulder has created the optional AI Literacy Foundations self-paced course hosted in Canvas where users can learn more on the topic of AI.  Additional workshops, tutorials and guidance will be offered throughout the rollout.

This information will be updated as more details become available and dates are finalized.

How ChatGPT Edu fits Into CU Boulder's technology and policy landscape

ChatGPT Edu is being introduced as an additional AI resource for the CU Boulder community. It expands the set of supported tools available to eligible students, faculty and staff, and does not replace existing AI or productivity platforms already approved for campus use.

With ChatGPT Edu, users will have access to a secure, institutionally supported environment where CU credentials are required and CU data receives stronger protections than those offered by public AI tools. This ensures that faculty, staff and students can use generative AI while aligning with university standards and data governance expectations.

Other tools, such as Microsoft Copilot, which is approved for use with confidential data, will continue to be available. The availability of ChatGPT Edu does not change CU Boulder’s existing data classification rules, FERPA obligations, or accessibility requirements, nor does it change any academic integrity expectations for students. All campus policies remain fully in effect.

Faculty will continue to determine whether and how AI tools may be used within their courses. Instructors may choose to allow, limit or prohibit AI use and should outline their expectations in their syllabi and course communications.

Resources