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Password Requirements for Student Accounts
Updated 2/26/2025
Password Requirements
Passwords must be a minimum of 8 characters and a maximum of 256 characters and requires 3 out of 4 following types of characters:
- Lowercase characters
- Uppercase characters
- Numbers (0-9)
- Spaces or Symbols (@ # $ % ^ & * - ! + = [ ] { } | \ : ' , . ? / ` ~ " ( ) ; < >)
**Please note that while passwords can be a minimum of 8 characters, ý strongly recommends using a minimum of 12 characters or more for enhanced security.
Certain passwords are not accepted as ý enforces Microsoft's Global Banned Password List. Additionally, ý does not allow passwords that include (but are not limited to):
- Personal Identifiers: Your name, nickname or initials
- College References: Mentions of the College, it's mascots, location, etc.
- Easily Guessed Words: "password" or "P@ssw0rd"
- Common Phrases: “The best is…” or “I love my…” or “Softball is…” or “How Are You…” or “God is …”
- Simple Sequences: "abcd" or "1234"
- Keyboard patterns: "qwerty" or "qazwsx"
Password Best Practices
Follow these best practices to create strong and secure passwords or passphrases:
- Choose an uncommon combination of four to eight easy-to-remember words.
- Incorporate spaces between or within words.
- Use capital letters or capitalize specific words.
- Add punctuation and special characters that are meaningful to you but difficult for others to guess.
- Use unique or abbreviated spellings of words.
- Replace some letters with numbers to create variations (e.g., "E" becomes "3").