If you've forgotten your password and cannot complete the initial registration steps on your own, contact Technical Support and we will be happy to send you a temporary password to use for this process!
If you are a preceptor (and not a faculty member), you will utilize the password reset process but will complete it on the Thundertime website instead of through the GCU Portal. After navigating to the ThunderTime website, enter your GCU email address to get started. See the steps below for assistance setting up authentication methods and/or resetting your password (start at step 2 in both guides).
The password for your GCU account can be reset through the GCU Portal. You can reset your password at any time, and it will apply to all websites that are tied to your GCU email. The first time you log into the GCU Portal, you will be prompted to set up authentication options. Refer to the appropriate heading below depending on your circumstances.
- Start by navigating to gcuportal.gcu.edu and selecting the Student Access button. If you are a faculty member, select Faculty Access and then click Sign In. Once prompted, enter your GCU email (@my.gcu.edu).
NOTE If you are a faculty member and do not see the sign in page, you may need to enable pop-ups. Check out the article: Allowing Pop-ups on GCU Sites for more information. - The next screen will ask for a password. If you are a new student, faculty, or preceptor, you should have received an email containing your username and temporary password. Locate that email and enter the password into the password field.
NOTE If you are unable to log in after copying and pasting the password from the email, try to type in the password instead.
If you cannot locate the email containing your username and password, contact Technical Support. We can send a new email! - A screen will appear asking for more information. Select Next.
- There are two options for that can be used for authentication methods. You can set up a phone number or use the Authenticator app. You will only be able to set up one authentication option for your initial set-up but it is recommended that you set up multiple options to make resetting your password easier in the future. For more information on resetting or adding authentication options, check out the accordion below: Adding or Resetting Authentication Options.
After selecting Next, you will be asked to set up your authentication option. Microsoft will by default ask you to use the Authenticator App. GCU Technical Support's scope of service with the Authenticator App is limited and we recommend using your phone number as an authentication option. To switch to a different authentication method, select I want to set up a different method and choose your preferred default option (this can be changed later).
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- Phone: If you choose the phone authentication option, you will be asked to enter a phone number. Then select the “Text me a code” (recommended) or “Call Me” button. Wait a few moments, and then check your phone. You will receive a text message/call with a code to enter on the next screen.
- Phone: If you choose the phone authentication option, you will be asked to enter a phone number. Then select the “Text me a code” (recommended) or “Call Me” button. Wait a few moments, and then check your phone. You will receive a text message/call with a code to enter on the next screen.
Authenticator App: If you choose to set up the Microsoft Authenticator App, start by downloading it to your mobile device. Once it is installed, choose the Next button to continue. Follow the prompts on your screen to set up your account. Once set up, the Microsoft Authenticator will send a test notification. Open the notification on your mobile device and enter the number that appears on your screen.
Once you have set up authentication options, you will be taken to a success page. Select Done to continue signing in. If prompted to "Stay Signed in," we recommend not utilizing that feature yet since you have not made your own password. To reset your password, you will need to sign out and select the Forgot my Password button during the sign-in process. See the instructions below for details.
After setting up authentication options, you will be logged in automatically; however, you must be logged out to reset your password.
- To sign out of the Student Portal, select the Sign Out button from the upper right-hand corner of the Portal.NOTE If you are not able to sign out of the Student Portal, please clear your cache and cookies.
- You will be redirected to the login screen. From the Pick your account box, select Use another account.
- Once your account has been forgotten, you may follow the instructions in the Resetting Your Password section below to reset your password.
You can reset your password at any time using the phone or email authentication options.
- Start by navigating to gcuportal.gcu.edu and selecting either the Student Access or Faculty Access button. (If you are logged in, you will need to sign out in order to complete this process).
- Enter your GCU email address. If you are a student or adjunct faculty member, use @my.gcu.edu after your username.
- Enter your GCU email address. If you are a student or adjunct faculty member, use @my.gcu.edu after your username.
- Select the Forgot my Password button.
- Enter your GCU email (if it isn’t entered automatically), complete the CAPTCHA below, and then click Next.
- We recommend using the visual text option that appears automatically. The CAPTCHA should be read from left to right, starting with the top line. If you have difficulty reading the initial CAPTCHA characters, you can click the refresh option on the right (identified by the green box in the screenshot above). This will provide an alternative set of characters for you to transcribe.
- If you continue to have difficulties with the visual CAPTCHA after refreshing it, there is an audio option available as well (identified by the blue box in the screenshot above). This option will play a series of words in English and Spanish for you to transcribe. Enter a space between each word that you hear.
- CAPTCHA is NOT case sensitive.
- A screen will appear with options to reset your password. Select the appropriate header below for steps.
- The email address you added should appear in the prompt. If it is correct, click Email.
- You will receive an email with a code.
- Enter the code from your email into the box on the screen.
- You will then be prompted to create a new password. The criteria for password creation are listed in the section below.
- Enter the mobile phone number you used during the initial setup process. Then click Text.
- You will receive a text message with a code.
- Enter the code from your phone into the box on the screen.
- You will then be prompted to create a new password. The criteria for password creation are listed in the section below.
- Enter the mobile number you used during the initial setup process. Then click Call.
- You will receive a phone call. During this call, you will be asked to press the # (pound) key on your device. After doing so, the GCU Portal screen will refresh and you will be prompted to create a new password. The criteria for password creation are listed in the section below.
Every 180 days, your password will expire. If you know that your password is about to expire, you may want to change your password without going through the reset process. You can change your password through Outlook.
- To change your password through Outlook, start by opening the Email app on the Student Portal.
- Click the User icon at the top right of the Outlook page.
- Select View Account to view the Outlook account settings.
- Next, choose Change Password under the Password box.
- You can now input your old password and create a new password on this page. Once you have filled out the new password, click Submit.
Your new password must fit the following criteria:
- Minimum 8 characters in length (max is 256 characters)
- Must include at least 3 of the following:
- Uppercase letter
- Lowercase letter
- Number (0-9)
- Symbol (@ # $ % ^ & * - _ ! + = [ ] { } | \ : ‘ , . ? / ` ~ " ( ) ; )
There are some password restrictions as well:
- Cannot be one of your last 5 passwords
- Cannot contain personal identification information, such as your name
- Cannot be easily guessable such as using common passwords, phrases, or consecutive numbers
(ex: Password123, ABC12345, etc.)
Once your password has been reset successfully, you will see the following screen. Select the “Click Here” link to sign in with your new password.
Errors and Troubleshooting
This error occurs if the password you created is:
- Easily guessable (contains common words such as “password”)
- Contains information that is easily identifiable (your name, birth date, birth year, current year, etc.)
- Contains sequences of consecutive numbers such as “123”
This error occurs if the password you created is:
- Too similar to one of your last five passwords
- Does not contain one or more of the required criteria
This error occurs when the wrong email address is entered as your User ID. If you encounter this error, check to ensure that your email is entered correctly. Your GCU email should follow this format:
username@my.gcu.edu
This error occurs when the code you entered does not match the code that was most recently provided. If you sent yourself multiple codes, make sure you are entering the most recent one.
If necessary, you can restart the process and send yourself a new code.
If you are a student, follow the steps below to reset your authentication options.
If you are a preceptor or faculty, sign-in to outlook.com and skip to step 3. If you are still unable to reset your authentication options, please contact Technical Support. We can provide you with a new temporary password to get into your account. Additionally, we can get the incorrect authentication options removed.
- Log into the GCU Portal using your GCU username and password. If you don’t know your password, contact Technical Support and we can send you a temporary password that you can use to log in for this process.
- Once inside the GCU Portal, select the Email app.
- Select the profile icon in the upper right corner of your email, and then My account or View Account (it could be listed as either).
- Select the Security Info tab on the left side menu.
NOTE At this point, you may be asked to confirm your identity. If so, select the re-enter my password button, and enter your password again. If you are not prompted to enter your password again, skip to the next step. - The next page will list your current authentication options. You can click Change on the Phone or Email tabs to update your authentication option information. Clicking Delete will remove it from the list. Clicking Add method will provide a window to select which method you would like to add. After selecting the method, click Add to proceed.
- Enter the new phone number or email address that you’d like to set as your authentication method. You can also use the Microsoft Authenticator App as an authentication method, but GCU Technical Support provides limited support with this app and recommend using the phone number option. Then click Next to send an email or text to the contact information provided.NOTE Your authentication options are used for password recovery and Multi-Factor authentication (MFA). Meaning that if you change or delete your phone number or the authenticator app following these steps, then your MFA will be changed as well.
- Once you’ve finished entering the verification code, you will receive a confirmation message.
NOTE You can repeat this process for the second method, but you can only add one of each method type.
If this error occurs, and you are a faculty or preceptor, contact Technical Support for further assistance.
This error sometimes occurs during the initial set-up process. If this error occurs, first make sure you are logging into the correct website. The web address for the GCU Portal is gcuportal.gcu.edu.
If you’ve confirmed that the correct website is being accessed and the problem still occurs, ensure that you are entering your login credentials correctly. If you have additional accounts with Microsoft, such as a personal account, your browser may be entering the saved login information for that account instead.
If the error still occurs, we recommend switching to another browser or clearing cache and cookies. See Basic Troubleshooting for steps on this process if needed.
Your GCU password will expire every 180 days. In the past, GCU student passwords did not expire, so you may be used to using the same password all the time. When your password has reached 180 days of use, you will receive the following prompt upon trying to log into the GCU Portal:
“You need to update your password because this is the first time you are signing in, or because your password has expired.”
Enter your current password, and then a new password. Enter the new password a second time to confirm it. If you need any assistance with the password creation process, see the Password Criteria section in the accordion above.
In the future, two weeks prior to your password reaching the expiration date, you will be notified via a pop up in the bottom corner of your screen. You can wait until your password expires, or reset it ahead of time by clicking the Change it now button.
This error occurs after five unsuccessful attempts at resetting your password in one hour. This includes entering the wrong verification phone number five times. Should this error occur, you will have to wait the full 24 hours to attempt another password reset. If you need immediate access to information in your Student Portal, or if you’re attempting to access your Halo course(s), contact Technical Support. We can provide a temporary password that you can use until the 24-hour timeframe has expired. Once it has expired, we recommend attempting the reset process again and reaching out to Technical Support for assistance if needed.
You may be directed to this page when trying to log into your Student Portal. This page is used to verify the authentication options that are associated with your account. If the phone number and email address are correct, select the looks good button to confirm.
Depending on the email service you use (such as Gmail or Yahoo!), the New GCU Account email username and password may display as blank when emailed to you. Some email providers hide images by default to allow them to load faster. Typically, there is a button to display all images or show all images that you can click on allowing the display of images, which should load the username and password. If you aren't able to find these buttons, try forwarding the email without sending it. This should force the email to load properly and display the username and password.
While rare, it is possible for the reset process to vary slightly from the typical workflow. When a student is accepted to GCU, their first password is automatically generated and will be valid for 180 days before it expires. If a student’s original password expires before they have an opportunity to set up authentication options, the self-service password reset (SSPR) process on the GCU Portal prioritizes the 180 day expiration/reset requirement above the necessity to create authentication options. Therefore, students who allowed their original password to expire prior to setting up authentication options will be prompted to create a new password first.
While this order differs slightly from the norm, there is no cause for concern. Once authentication options have been set up, all future reset experiences will follow the expected flow.