MFA for CUNY hosted Microsoft Apps Starts July 15

Dear Student,

To further protect your digital information and accounts, CUNY will begin enabling Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) on all Microsoft apps accessed through the CUNY-provided Microsoft license effectively July 15, 2025. This includes Microsoft Office 365 apps like Word, Excel, Teams, OneDrive, etc.

You may be wondering how this affects you, especially since we have already been using MFA for email. Here are the key differences:

• Citymail Email (Current): Your @citymail.cuny.edu email is hosted on a separate Microsoft system. MFA is already required when logging into your student email, and there will be no changes to that process.
• CUNY Microsoft Apps (New): CUNY provides separate access to Microsoft 365 apps [Word, Excel, Teams, OneDrive] through their Microsoft tenant using the CUNY Login ID. Until now, MFA has not been required to access these apps. Starting July 15, MFA will be required when accessing the Microsoft 365 services tied to your "@login.cuny.edu" account.

After setting up MFA for the CUNY Microsoft Apps, you will see two separate accounts listed in your Microsoft Authenticator app:

• One for your Citymail email (@citymail.cuny.edu)
• One for your CUNY Microsoft Apps (@login.cuny.edu)

Please note that this is expected and normal. These represent two distinct accounts provided through different systems, both now secured with MFA.

We encourage all users to continue enrolling in MFA as soon as possible. Step-by-step instructions are available in the CUNY IT Help Knowledge Base article: Where do I find instructions on setting up Microsoft Multi-factor Authentication?

The Office of Information Technology is committed to protecting your digital safety. To verify the authenticity of this message, please visit the Announcements section of the OIT website.

Thank you for your attention and cooperation in helping protect the university’s digital environment.

Office of Information Technology