Single Sign-On Login

Single Sign-On (SSO) is an authentication approach that allows users to sign in once with their institutional account and then access multiple authorized systems without needing to re-enter credentials for each application. In a higher education environment, SSO plays a foundational role in balancing ease of access with strong security. Students, faculty, staff, researchers, affiliates, and guests all rely on a wide range of digital services, including email, learning systems, research tools, library resources, and departmental applications. SSO unifies that experience.

For higher education institutions, the value of SSO goes beyond convenience. It supports centralized identity management, reduces password fatigue, lowers support costs associated with credential issues, and enables consistent security policies across applications. It also creates a stronger foundation for multifactor authentication, conditional access, lifecycle management, and compliance efforts.

An effective SSO framework should define not only the technology used to authenticate users, but also the governance, security model, migration approach, and operational practices needed to support the institution over time.

Single Sign-On at UConn

The University is currently in the process of migrating its Single Sign-On (SSO) services from CAS to Microsoft Entra. This transition is expected to take place over the course of several years as applications are reviewed, planned, and moved in phases. Application owners will be contacted as part of this process when it is time to coordinate their application’s migration to the new SSO platform. Please see the linked sub-articles for more information about Entra and the migration.

More Information

Higher education presents a uniquely complex identity environment. Unlike many organizations with a relatively fixed workforce, colleges and universities manage large and constantly changing populations. Users often hold multiple roles at once, such as student and employee, researcher and instructor, or affiliate and alumnus. Access needs also change frequently based on term dates, enrollment status, employment changes, and departmental affiliation.

SSO is important in this environment for several reasons:

Improved user experience

A single institutional login simplifies access to the many systems users depend on each day. This reduces confusion, lowers friction, and improves adoption of university-supported services.

Stronger security

SSO enables authentication to be centralized, making it easier to apply consistent controls such as multifactor authentication, session policies, location-based restrictions, and risk-based protections.

Reduced support burden

By reducing the number of usernames and passwords users must manage, SSO decreases password reset requests and other account access issues that drive help desk volume.

Better access governance

SSO supports a more consistent and auditable access model by connecting authentication decisions to authoritative identity data and centrally managed policies.

Scalability and modernization

As institutions adopt more cloud services, SSO becomes essential for integrating modern applications using standards such as SAML, OAuth, and OpenID Connect.