California Community Colleges and ID.me – ID.me Help Center

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

CCC requires that the email you use for your OpenCCC student account matches at least one of the email addresses on your ID.me account.

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.
If you already have a 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, enter the email and password for your ID.me account, then select Sign in. Complete multi-factor authentication.

Note: The email address you use for your OpenCCC student account must match at least one of the email addresses on your ID.me account. If the email for your OpenCCC account is not on your ID.me account, add the email to your ID.me account.
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, you must create an account using the email address you used for your CCCApply account. 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