Student Accounts Activation

Please be aware that starting April 13th, 2026 your existing student email account has been transitioned to a new CUNY-wide Microsoft 365 system. This new account will serve as your official email for all York College and CUNY communications. Your new account format is the same as your CUNY Login cunyloginusername@login.cuny.edu. This account will be the one you use to login and authenticate. The account will drive two additional identities, A York-specific address (example: firstname.lastname@stu-mail.york.cuny.edu) and the other A universal CUNY address (cunyloginusername@cuny.edu). Email from your existing firstname.lastname@yorkmail.cuny.edu will remain available for a limited time during the transition. You will need to create or activate a new MFA for the new account. By going to Office.com and using your CUNY ID, you will be prompted to setup MFA.

All new students should have received an email to your alternate email account informing you regarding the status of your newly provisioned Microsoft 365 York Outlook email account.  

Your York 365 Outlook email account is generally provisioned 48-72 hours after that notice. If this provisioning takes longer factors such as when you registered for classes or when Microsoft was sent information like over a weekend can affect the exact timing.

Email Address: firstname.lastname@stu-mail.york.cuny.edu (Please be aware that the last 2 or 3 digits from your CUNY Login ID is added to after the last name, if you received an email informing you of the provisioned account it will reflect the correct ID)

Temporary Password: Your DOB (Yc + MMYYYY + LAST 4 of SSN )

Use the above credentials at the following link: https://www.outlook.com/owa/yorkmail.cuny.edu

Academic Communications at York College: Activation of your newly provisioned Microsoft 365 York Outlook email account is critical to your communication with all academic and campus businesses at York College as this will be the only email York College communicates to while you are a registered student with our institution. The following is information essential to the use of this account.

New Email Account Information: You should have received an email with a very specific subject which you were given at the workshop you should have attended. When you get this email you must act quickly to activate your account. In that activation email, you will have a link to a web page on the York College website which provides you the standard format you need to use in order to log in for the first time to your account. The email itself should have provided your new email account ID. Use this ID to activate your new email account. In addition, you have a standard default password that is comprised of personal information only you know as part of the default password format.

Change This Password as Soon as You Get into Your New Account.

Your York College “Network” account is a critical access ID for campus resources. The account is generally provisioned during the registration process but is not fully active until a few days before the start of classes.  This account uses the same password convention as your York College student email account: "Temporary Password: (Uppercase (Y) + Lowercase (c) + MMYYYY + LAST 4 of SSN -  (eg. Yc1219985400)". 

To activate the account you must know your account name. The convention for the name is the first initial followed by your last name. However, there may be a number immediately following your last name.

To know for sure the exact account name use MYID. This link will provide the correct account information once you provide your CUNYfirst EmpID and the last 5 digits of your social security number.

Once you know your account name you can activate the account using the link provided in the MYID link which will take you to a page that will allow you to enter the temporary password using the same syntax as your email temporary password.

If you do not change the temporary password during the activation stage or choose to wait until you get on campus,  the first time you log in to a York College student computer on campus using the temporary password, you will be asked to make a new password.

Once the new password is setup you can use the York College Student Network Account to access the following resources:

• York College Cardinal App (download from Google Play or App Store, look up York College)
• Student VPN
• YCWIFI (campus-wide wireless network services)
• Parking Permit online system (for parking permit purchases)
• York College Library printing, scanning, and copying services
• York College Library computer reservation system
• York College Library computers remotely
• York College student computers outside the Library at other labs and locations

What to expect when you activate your Network Account:

1. Expect to use the network ID you searched using MYID
2. Expect to enter this network ID and your temporary password
3. Expect to be prompted to answer security challenge questions as you will be required to create a profile that will give you the ability to reset your password anytime you need to or forget it for the York Network account
4. Expect at least two security questions in creating your profile and one custom question you created. Be sure to choose questions in which the answers are meaningful, easy to remember and concise.
5. Expect your responses are not case sensitive
6. Expect to enter a new password and to confirm your new password

When you " Submit" expect a " Change Successful" message to appear stating " Your Password has been changed".

Once you have updated your default password and tested it by logging back into your newly activated account apply the following security practices in order to protect your account against any cyber security threats:

Do not use any existing passwords you already use for other accounts including CUNYfirst. While this makes remembering passwords a breeze, it compromises the integrity of all your security because once one account is figured out, all accounts are at risk. Please create a unique password and follow the following rules:

• Password must be between 8 characters and 13 characters
• Password must not be one of 4 previous passwords.
• Password must contain at least 1 uppercase letter.
• Password must contain at least 1 numeric character.
• Password must contain at least 1 special character.

Once you have reset your default password to a unique password your new email account or network account is considered activated. All York College official business and information pertaining to your academic journey here at York will go to the yorkmail account and this account alone. If at any time you believe the account has been compromised or hacked, immediately change your password and report any incidents to the York College Information Technology department.

If you need help, contact IT Services by visiting the Welcome Center located in the main entrance of the Academic Core

For additional information on cyber security please visit CUNY's Security Awareness website at CUNY Security.

Resource on MFA

Below you will find additional information on what Multi-Factor Authentication is all about. However, if you do not have a cell phone to receive the multi-factor code at this time Multi-Factor Authentication will not work properly for you. If this is the case contact our Service Desk by filling out the following form and cut and paste the following message in the comments:

" I do not have a cell phone and therefore cannot participate in the MFA additional security at this time, please reset my account"

Remove MFA IT department will validate your request. If the statement above is not in the comments section of the form we will not be able to remove MFA.

As part of ongoing efforts to protect digital identities and related York College information, Information Technology is following guidance and security protocols from our Central Office and other campuses have enabled multi-factor authentication (MFA) for student Office 365 email services.

Multi-factor authentication (MFA) for Office365 email login has become mandatory for students starting in March 2021.  Multi-factor authentication (MFA) is a security enhancement that requires two forms of verification when using your Office365 Login and adds critical protection for your sign-on credentials.

We are deploying MFA for CUNY Office 365 Logon in response to a dramatic rise in the scope and sophistication of phishing, spear phishing, and malware attacks that are targeting our students, faculty, and staff. The high rate of successfully compromised passwords is a severe and pervasive threat to information security at York College.

Once MFA is activated you will start to receive alerts when you go to log in to Office365 asking you to set up your MFA credentials.  

Information on how to enroll in MFA

How do I Enroll in MFA?

Additional information on security awareness and cybersecurity:

CyberSecurity Awareness

Visit the CUNYfirst homepage.

• In the gray Sign-In box, click the " New User" link.
• On the Account Activation screen, enter your name, date of birth, last four digits of your Social Security number, and security phrase, then click "OK."
• On the following screen, select five security questions and provide answers for each of them. Answers are case-sensitive.
• On the last screen, enter a password. It must be between eight and 13 characters and must contain at least one number and one capital letter.
• After choosing a password, a confirmation page will appear, displaying your username and Employee ID. Print this screen for your records.

Usernames are required to log in to CUNYfirst, the Employee ID is used to verify your identity at student offices and Information technology.

Every 180 days you will receive messages to change your password. If you fail to do so you will be locked out and have to reset your password.

You can update your password by going to the CUNYfirst homepage and use the option for "Forgot Password".

Knowing your Employee ID and answers to your security questions will help you to reset your password.