OpenAI ChatGPT Edu

ChatGPT can perform many tasks such as writing, coding, data analysis, translation, project management and more. To see what it can do for you, visit OpenAI - ChatGPT.

ChatGPT can perform many tasks such as writing, coding, data analysis, translation, project management and more. To see what it can do for you, visit OpenAI - ChatGPT.

OpenAl's ChatGPT Edu agreement is tailored specifically for the California State University (CSU) system, providing advanced Al capabilities for all employees and students. It offers the ability to build custom GPTs for sharing within campus workspaces, as well as features such as single sign-On (SSO).

ChatGPT Edu will be available to all active faculty, and staff by or before March 28, 2025, with student accounts becoming available in April 2025. Alumni are not eligible at this time.

Contact your IT provider to get help with ChatGPT Edu

• Access to GPT-4o, OpenAI's flagship model, excelling in text interpretation, coding, and mathematics
• Advanced capabilities such as data analytics, web browsing, and document summarization
• The ability to build GPTs, custom versions of ChatGPT, and share them within university workspaces
• Significantly higher message limits than the free version of ChatGPT
• Improved language capabilities across quality and speed, with over 50 languages supported
• Robust security, data privacy, and administrative controls such as group permissions, Single Sign-on (SSO) and GPT management
• Conversations and data are not used to train OpenAI models

There is currently no direct cost to students, faculty, employees, colleges, divisions or departments for the plan purchased through the Chancellors Office. ChatGPT is being funded by the CSU Chancellor’s Office through July 2026, at which time an extension will be evaluated.

The CSU Chancellor’s Office has signed an 18-month (February 2025 - July 2026) contract for ChatGPT with an option to extend the agreement for all active students, faculty, and staff. Note, students will gain access in April 2025.

The ChatGPT Edu plan includes enterprise-level data protection features designed to keep your information secure. 

These include:

• Single Sign-On (SSO) and domain verification for secure and streamlined access

• Custom data retention policies

• Data encryption both at rest and in transit to prevent unauthorized access

• SOC 2 Type 2 compliance, ensuring adherence to strict security and privacy standards

Additionally, OpenAI does not use conversations from ChatGPT Edu accounts to train its models, providing an extra layer of privacy for student and faculty interactions. 

SFSU’s ChatGPT Edu environment, and its encompassing data, will remain private to SFSU.

No SFSU conversations or data will be shared with OpenAI or other universities, for training purposes or AI models. ChatGPT Edu has robust data privacy, security and administrative controls such as group permissions, etc.

We will not monitor individual user activity or access personal conversations within ChatGPT. However, we may collect aggregate usage data—such as how often the tool is used or how many users are active—to better understand adoption trends and enhance support services.

AI detection software is ineffective, as it can result in false positives and create inequities in student learning. SFSU does not provide a tool for detecting AI-generated text (e.g. TurnItIn). Additionally, instructors should not use AI tools, like ChatGPT, to detect AI-generated text. To learn more about how AI text is generated, visit the Texas State Library Guide titled “Plagiarism, AI & ChatGPT: ChatGPT: How does work?”.

Students using AI-generated text cannot be accused of plagiarism. Instead, instructors should set the rules of engagement or co-create with students class norms around the use of AI. Refer to the May 2024 Academic Senate Resolution on the use of Generative AI in Teaching and Learning. Instructors are encouraged to learn about generative AI to best facilitate meaningful conversations with students about generative AI and student work. Faculty are encouraged to choose the approach best suited to course structure and content and communicate their position clearly to students.

Please visit CEETL’s Teaching with AI page on the campus AI website for guidance on how to teach About AI, With AI, while at the same time, Protect student learning loss from AI. Consult with CEETL on how to create boundaries with the use of AI.

The ChatGPT Edu rollout will include the ability to create custom ChatGPTs. 

Learn more about how to access, features, and support regarding custom GPTs via OpenAI support: https://help.openai.com/en/collections/8475422-building-gpts. 

Yes, OpenAI provides applications for various platforms, including iOS, Android, Windows, and macOS. Access and sign-in instructions to follow once authentication settings are in place.

All of your existing chat history and GPTs from your Personal workspace must be moved to the SFSU workspace. Any plugins or custom instructions that you've set up in your personal workspace will be deleted upon merging.

To ensure a seamless transition, please take the following steps before March 21, 2025:

• Backup Your Chat History: While you will have the option to migrate your existing ChatGPT conversations into the Edu workspace, we recommend downloading a copy for your records. For detailed instructions, visit the ChatGPT support article on exporting data.
• Save Custom GPTs: If you have created any custom GPTs, they will be eligible for migration, but some features may not transfer and may need to be recreated.
• Personal Paid Plans: If you wish to continue using a personal ChatGPT plan for non-university purposes, you must create a new ChatGPT account with a non-SFSU email address and subscribe separately.

For more information, visit OpenAI.

Alumni and emeritus faculty are not currently eligible to access ChatGPT Edu under the CSU agreement. FERP participants and retired annuitants who have continued active status are eligible to access ChatGPT Edu.

If you wish to maintain a personal paid subscription to ChatGPT, you must create a new account with a non-university email address. To do this, go to chatgpt.com, select Sign up, and use an non-sfsu.edu email address to create your account.

Not at this time, however research is underway to determine if Auxiliary employees can be granted access in the future, and if so at what cost.

Student assistants will receive access to ChatGPT Edu when accounts are provisioned for all students. 

• Non level 1 data
• Non-copyrighted material. Before uploading copyrighted material, ChatGPT users should check with the publisher to obtain approval. 

• Infrastructure: Data centers impact the environment through energy and water use. Azure, a main partner in the initiative, aims to be carbon negative by 2030, use 100% renewable energy by 2025, and achieve water positivity, zero waste, and net-zero deforestation by 2030.
• Organization Initiatives: The CSU is working on industry scorecards (ISO 14001, 26000, and OHSAS 18001/ISO 45001), related disclosures (CSRD, SFDR, SECR, TCFD), and researching ways to reduce the carbon footprint of ML training.

At this time, the web browser version of ChatGPT has known accessibility barriers. These barriers may interfere with assistive technology, including screen readers.

Faculty should not require the use of ChatGPT Edu to complete assignments or assessments, unless you provide an alternate method that does not require ChatGPT.

The contract for ChatGPT Edu from the CSU Chancellor’s Office includes a commitment from OpenAI to fix the accessibility barriers.

Self-paced learning resources are available below:

• OpenAI, LLMs & ChatGPT (05:34)
• Multimodality Explained (10:24)
• Introduction to Prompt Engineering (05:52)
• Introduction to GPTs (06:40)
• ChatGPT Search (05:43)
• Advanced Prompt Engineering (08:50)
• ChatGPT for Data Analysis (04:48)

Additional AI learning resources will be added as they become available. For general questions, contact the IT Help Center.