California Community Colleges and ID.me

California Community Colleges works with ID.me to verify the identity of students who apply to California community colleges using CCCApply. This streamlines and secures both the admissions and financial aid process while also safeguarding student information.

ID.me's role in this is only for identity verification. ID.me does not approve admissions or financial aid applications. This article explains how to get started verifying as a prospective community college student.

Before you begin

To access CCC using ID.me, you’ll first sign in to or create an OpenCCC student account. Next, you will sign in to your ID.me account and share your information with CCC. If you have never used ID.me, you will create an ID.me account and verify your identity.

1. Sign in or create an OpenCCC student account

To get started, sign in to your OpenCCC account or create one if you don't have an account:

Go to California Community Colleges.
Enter your college name, city or ZIP Code.
If you already have an OpenCCC student account, select Sign in, then enter your information and follow the prompts to sign in. To create a new OpenCCC account, select Create an Account.
- To set up your account, follow the prompts to enter your email or phone number, then enter the Security Code you receive. Next, enter your contact information, personal information, and account password. Finally, select Create Account.
Select Verify with ID.me. You’ll be redirected to the ID.me sign-in page.

Note: If you don’t want to verify your identity, select Verify Later, then select Yes, I want to opt out of ID.me.

2. Sign in or create an ID.me account

On the ID.me sign-in page, you’ll either sign in to your existing ID.me account or create a new one and verify your identity. Select a tab that aligns with whether you already have an ID.me account or need to create an ID.me account for the first time.

If you are an existing ID.me member, do not create another account.

To complete the process, make sure you consent to share your information with CCC:

On the ID.me sign-in page, follow the prompts to sign in to your account. Complete multi-factor authentication.
Consent to share your verified identity information.
You’ll be redirected to CCCApply. Keep in mind, if you haven’t submitted a CCC application within the last 12 months, you may be prompted to verify your identity.

If you do not have an ID.me account, create an account using your personal email address. After you create your ID.me account, verify your identity to access CCC. You can use your verified ID.me log in at CCC and anywhere else ID.me is accepted. For steps to verify your identity, visit Verifying for Verifying for California Community Colleges.

Who to contact for help

ID.me

ID.me can help if you have trouble with your account or verifying your identity. Common issues include:

Community colleges

They can best help with questions and next steps after you complete the verification process. For example, you may have questions about benefits or services you verified for. Before contacting them:

Confirm your verification was successful
Confirm you shared your information with the organization
Review our best practices and sample messages of how to request help from the organization you need to access