About Your USC Password

Your USC password is also referred to as your UNIX password and your enterprise password. It is the password that is associated with your USC computing account.

Your USC password is the one that you enter on the USCnet Login page when you are accessing the MyUSC portal and Blackboard, among other systems. You also use your USC password to access your email at email.usc.edu.

Password Requirements

Due to system requirements, your password should be 8 characters long and made up of a combination of letters, numbers and symbols, such as #, $, %, etc.

Your password may not:

• Be your first name, your last name, or your USC username.
• Be in the form of "firstname.lastname" as this is your alternate email address.
• Be all numbers.
• Contain spaces.

In addition, the most common password choices are also not allowed (i.e., the word “password” or a series of sequential numbers such as “12345678”).

Systems That Rely on the USC Password

Below is a list of the primary systems that require your USC password. When you change your USC password, the change will apply to the systems below.

Note: Some USC schools and departments maintain local systems that are not dependent on the USC password. Systems where you are asked for PIN (instead of a password) are not dependent on your USC password.

Blackboard (blackboard.usc.edu)
Email (email.usc.edu)
Google Apps at USC (google.usc.edu)
Grading and Roster System (grs.usc.edu)
ITS Subversion code repository
iVip
Moveable Type (blogs.usc.edu)
MyUSC (my.usc.edu) and all single sign-on applications when accessed through MyUSC, including Oasis, Registration, Course Evaluations, Add Syllabus to Schedule of Classes
Mywiki.usc.edu
Software downloads (software.usc.edu)
UNIX systems, including SCF, BCF, HPCC/RCF, HSC, ITS, and departmental hosts
University advisement (advise.usc.edu/advisement)
USC Computer Center (user lab) workstations
VPN

Note for IT Support Staff: The applications affected are primarily those that rely on Kerberos or Shibboleth for authentication. However, some school-based web applications that authenticate via LDAP may also be affected.

Systems That Do Not Rely on the USC Password

cms.usc.edu
eTrac (www.usc.edu/etrac)
Google Apps at USC (via a mobile device or a desktop email client)
OASIS (www.usc.edu/oasis)
Otis (https://otisusc.fastime.com/)
USC Event Calendar (https://web-app.usc.edu/ecal/)

Tips When Changing Your Password

After changing your password on the ITS website, you will also need to update your password in any other programs where your password has been stored. This includes email applications, such as Microsoft Outlook, Thunderbird, and Apple Mail.

UNIX users should be aware that it may take up to 30 minutes for your new password to become effective for logging into the UNIX system. During this time, your old password will continue to function.