| Important: You must have an active CES ChatGPT license assigned to your BYU-Idaho account before following these steps. If you have not yet requested a license, you will not have access to ChatGPT through CES. To learn how to request a license, please read our article How to Request a ChatGPT Edu License. |
Step 1: Go to ChatGPT
Open your browser and navigate to https://chatgpt.com. You'll land on the ChatGPT homepage, which has a dark theme and a left sidebar showing options like New chat, Search chats, Images, Apps, and Deep research. In the top-right corner, click the "Log in" button.
Step 2: Enter Your BYU-Idaho Username
A dialog will appear titled "Log in or sign up". In the Email address field, enter your username + @byui.edu (often called your User Principal Name, or simply UPN)—do not enter your email address. Our authentication system identifies users by User Principal Name in our CES ChatGPT platform.
Example
- Name: Thomas Ricks
- Email: rickst@byui.edu <- Wrong
- Username: tomricks1888 <- Wrong
- User Principal Name (UPN): tomricks1888@byui.edu <- Correct. This is what you use as your "NetID or Username," which should match what you provided on the ChatGPT request form.
Step 3: Choose "Church Educational System"
After providing your UPN, you'll be taken to a page asking "How do you want to log in?" with several method buttons listed vertically. Click "Church Educational System".
Step 4: Select "Use BYU-Idaho" on the CES Sign-In Page
You'll be redirected to the BYU Church Educational System sign-in page, which displays logos for all CES institutions horizontally at the top: BYU (navy), BYU-Hawaii (red), BYU-Idaho (blue), BYU-Pathway (gold), and Ensign College (green).
Under the "Sign In" heading, click the bright blue button labeled "Use BYU-Idaho". It's the third option in the list and matches BYU-Idaho's brand color.
Step 5: Complete BYU-Idaho Authentication
After clicking "Use BYU-Idaho," you may be redirected to the Church login page. Depending on your session state, you may:
- Be signed in automatically if you already have an active BYU-Idaho SSO session in your browser
- Be prompted to enter your Church credentials and complete multi-factor authentication (MFA)
Follow the prompts to enter your Church credentials and complete Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) if prompted.
Step 6: Confirm You're in the CES Workspace
Once authentication is complete, your browser will return to chatgpt.com. You'll know the institutional login was successful when:
- The page greets you with "Where should we begin?" (the authenticated homepage)
- The bottom-left corner of the sidebar shows your name and "CES ChatGPT" beneath it
- You see access to GPTs, Projects, and your chat history in the sidebar
- An "Organization knowledge" button is visible on the main screen
Returning Users: Faster Login
If you've logged in before, ChatGPT may show a "Welcome back" dialog with your @byui.edu account listed. Simply click your account tile to skip re-entering your email and go directly to the "How do you want to log in?" screen (Step 3 above).
Troubleshooting
If you see a message such as "create a new OpenAI account," "access denied," or you simply don't see the "Church Educational System" login option, it's likely that one of the following scenarios happened:
- You entered your email address instead of your UPN (see Step 2 above).
- You were provisioned a license, but haven't accepted the email invite to join our CES workspace.
- If you don't see the email invite, make sure to check your spam/junk folders.
- You do not yet have an account and therefore need to request one.