The New Penn State Sign In

Article Intended For

Penn State students, faculty, staff, and other affiliates who have used WebAccess to log into online Penn State resources.

Article Body

What's happening, when, and why?

• Today, when you log in to Penn State websites and applications such as LionPATH, Canvas, WorkLion, and GlobalProtect, you enter your user ID (e.g., abc123) and password on the WebAccess login screen. You do the same when you log in to Office365 apps, after the initial Microsoft sign-in screen.
• Starting July 7, a new sign-in process will replace WebAccess as the primary login system for Penn State applications. 
• This change is part of Penn State's commitment to take advantage of newer technologies that offer greater security, flexibility, and efficiency.  The transition to the new sign-in process lays the foundation for the University to implement additional future enhancements that will make it even easier to sign in.

How is the new sign-in process different from WebAccess?

In both the current and the new process, you must first navigate to the website or application you wish to log in to (and click the log in button if applicable).

• When the WebAccess login screen is displayed, you:
  
  1. Enter your Penn State user ID (e.g., abc123).
  2. Enter your password on the same screen, and
  3. Click LOGIN.
  4. If you're enrolled in 2FA, the Duo prompt displays against a Penn State background.
• When the new Penn State sign-in screen is displayed, you will:
  
  1. Enter your user ID, followed by "@psu.edu" (e.g., abc123@psu.edu) — instead of just your user ID — and click Next.
     
     • Note: Users with limited accounts (formerly also called "Friends of Penn State" accounts) must enter "@psu.edu" after their account ID on this page, even though they do not have a corresponding @psu.edu email address at which they receive email.
     • For users at Penn State Health and College of Medicine: If you are receiving an error message without seeing this sign-in screen, you may have already logged in with the Penn State Health (@pennstatehealth.psu.edu) identity, and that identity may passing to automatically to the sign-in screen. If you are unable to see the initial log in screen:
       
       • Log in using an incognito window, or
       • Configure your Edge browser to add your Penn State profile (e.g., abc123@psu.edu), which will allow you to choose this profile for future log ins using any browser
         
  2. Enter your password on a separate screen, and click Sign In.
     
  3. If you're enrolled in 2FA, the DUO prompt will display against a blank background.
     
     (Click image to enlarge)
• When the Microsoft sign-in screen is displayed:
  
  • After you enter your user ID followed by "@psu.edu" (e.g., abc123@psu.edu) and click Next, you will also enter your password on a new screen rather than log into WebAccess.
    
    (Click image to enlarge)
    

What else do I need to know?

• WHY IT LOOKS FAMILIAR: The new Penn State sign-in screen is very similar to the sign-in screen you use to log in to Microsoft applications.
• ABOUT THE LINKS ON SIGN-IN PAGES:  Both the Microsoft and the new Penn State sign-in screens include a number of built-in links such as (a) Can't access your account?  (b) Sign in with a security key, (c) Sign-in options, and (d) Forgot my password.
  
  • These links cannot be used to help with your Penn State account or log in.  Unfortunately, they cannot be removed.
  • If you need to reset your password or get help logging in, you must visit https://accounts.psu.edu and use the links on the lower half of the home page.
• YOU'LL NEED TO SIGN IN AGAIN:  If you are logged in to any Microsoft applications when the new process goes live on July 7, you will need to sign in to them again.  Although most applications will automatically prompt you to sign in, you may need to manually reconnect to OneDrive or the desktop version of Outlook.
  
• THE STAY SIGNED IN OPTION:  For security reasons, you will no longer see this option when you log into Microsoft apps.  As a result, you will automatically be logged out of Microsoft apps each time you close your web browser. 
  
• SECURITY KEYS:  Although the Microsoft and Penn State sign-in screens will include links that suggest you can use a security key instead of your user ID and password, that option is not actually available. 
  
• LIFETIME PASSWORDS: Penn State recently changed to lifetime passwords. If users (including those with limited accounts) haven’t been through that change, they will need to change their password at https://accounts.psu.edu/password/change. Sometimes it takes about half an hour then for their account to sync up with all of the Azure changes and allow log in. Details about the lifetime password change are online at https://security.psu.edu/services/penn-state-accts/passwords/change/.
• APPEARANCE OF DUO 2FA PROMPT:  The DUO two-factor authentication prompt will be displayed against a blank background rather than a Penn State background image. In addition, the following text will no longer appear at the top:
  

  2FA Login, Devices and Settings To log in, follow the prompts to confirm that it's really you. To add a device or manage your settings, click the link below.