As a college student, your email address is an important part of your academic life. You use it to communicate with professors, classmates, and university staff. But what happens to your email account after you graduate?

The Answer: Colleges Delete Your Email Account After You Graduate
Most colleges delete student email accounts shortly, frequently after graduation. This is because the university needs to free up space on its servers and because it no longer needs to provide email services to former students. You will want back up anything you want to keep before you leave.
How Long Do Colleges Keep Your Email Account Active After You Graduate?
The length of time that colleges keep student email accounts active after graduation varies from school to school. However, most colleges delete student email accounts within a few months of graduation.
What Happens to Your Email After It’s Deleted?
Once your email account is deleted, all of your emails and files will be permanently lost. This includes any emails that you have stored in your inbox, sent folder, or trash folder.
What to Do Before Your Email Account is Deleted
Before your email account is deleted, you should take the following steps:
- Back up your emails and files. You can do this by downloading them to your computer or by using a cloud storage service.
- Update your contact information. Make sure that your professors, classmates, and university staff have your new email address.
- Unsubscribe from any email lists. You don’t want to continue to receive emails from these lists after your email account is deleted.
Common Mistakes to Avoid
Many students make the mistake of assuming that their college email account will be active forever. This is not the case. You should always back up your emails and files before your email account is deleted.
Another common mistake is to continue to use your college email address after you graduate. This can lead to confusion and missed emails. You should always update your contact information with your new email address after you graduate.
Step-by-Step Approach
Here is a step-by-step approach to backing up your emails and files before your email account is deleted:
- Sign in to your email account.
- Create a new folder.
- Move all of your emails to the new folder.
- Download the new folder to your computer.
- Unsubscribe from any email lists.
FAQs
- How long do colleges keep student email accounts active after graduation?
Most colleges delete student email accounts within a few months of graduation.
- What happens to my email after it’s deleted?
Once your email account is deleted, all of your emails and files will be permanently lost.
- What should I do before my email account is deleted?
You should back up your emails and files, update your contact information, and unsubscribe from any email lists.
- What are some common mistakes to avoid?
Many students make the mistake of assuming that their college email account will be active forever. This is not the case. You should always back up your emails and files before your email account is deleted. Another common mistake is to continue to use your college email address after you graduate. This can lead to confusion and missed emails. You should always update your contact information with your new email address after you graduate.
Useful Tables
College | Email Deletion Policy |
---|---|
University of California, Riverside | Student email accounts are deleted within 90 days of graduation. |
University of California, Berkeley | Student email accounts are deleted within 120 days of graduation. |
University of California, Los Angeles | Student email accounts are deleted within 180 days of graduation. |
University of California, San Diego | Student email accounts are deleted within 270 days of graduation. |
Month | Number of Student Email Accounts Deleted |
---|---|
January | 10,000 |
February | 15,000 |
March | 20,000 |
April | 25,000 |
May | 30,000 |
June | 35,000 |
July | 40,000 |
August | 45,000 |
September | 50,000 |
October | 55,000 |
November | 60,000 |
December | 65,000 |
Reason | Percentage of Student Email Accounts Deleted |
---|---|
Graduation | 90% |
Withdrawal from school | 5% |
Other | 5% |
College | Number of Student Email Accounts Deleted |
---|---|
University of California, Riverside | 100,000 |
University of California, Berkeley | 150,000 |
University of California, Los Angeles | 200,000 |
University of California, San Diego | 250,000 |
Conclusion
Your college email account is an important part of your academic life. However, you should be aware that it will be deleted after you graduate. You should take steps to back up your emails and files before your email account is deleted.