Answers to the questions the University of Maine System (UMS) hears most about ChatGPT Edu: moving an existing account, Business accounts, the desktop app, who can use it, privacy, and where to learn more.
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Learning ChatGPT Edu
Not necessarily. ChatGPT Edu is a separate workspace, so some content from your current account may not transfer. Review your account and save anything you want to keep.
After migration (date to be determined), your @maine.edu ChatGPT account will move into the UMS ChatGPT Edu workspace. Content you don't migrate or transfer beforehand may no longer be available in your previous account.
If your personal ChatGPT Plus or Pro subscription is tied to your @maine.edu address, that account is part of the move. Subscriptions bought directly through ChatGPT may be canceled and refunded on a prorated basis when the account moves into ChatGPT Edu.
If you want to keep the subscription you pay for, change the email address on that account to a personal address before the UMS ChatGPT Edu workspace claims it. An active subscription stays active under the new address. See changing the email address on an existing account.
Possibly, but only before the UMS ChatGPT Edu workspace claims your account. You can make the change yourself only if all of these are true:
- You have never signed in to the account using single sign-on (SSO).
- The account isn't already part of an Enterprise, Edu, or Business workspace.
- The maine.edu domain hasn't yet been verified by the UMS ChatGPT Edu workspace, or by any other Enterprise or Business organization.
Changing the email address moves the entire account to the new address, including chat history, Projects, Custom GPTs, settings, and any active subscription. You have to make the change in a web browser. It isn't available in the ChatGPT mobile or desktop apps.
For eligibility details, step-by-step instructions, and limits, see Change the Email on Your Personal ChatGPT Account Before the UMS Edu Migration.
Always submit the email change form. After you change your email address, tell UMS IT using the Change the Email on Your Personal ChatGPT request form. OpenAI has to complete a step on their end before your ChatGPT Edu account is ready for UMS work.
If you get an error: Submit the form anyway. Describe what happened and the error message you saw. UMS IT will escalate it to OpenAI for you.
At this time, you can't directly transfer your full chat history, or intellectual property you own, from the UMS ChatGPT Edu workspace to a personal ChatGPT account when you leave. This protects privacy and data security in the UMS workspace.
No. Complete the migration in a web browser at chatgpt.com (External Link). The migration steps aren't available in the ChatGPT desktop app for Windows or macOS. Once the migration is done, you can sign in to the desktop app and use it as usual.
No. Sign out of your current account in the desktop app, then sign back in with your UMS credentials to reach the UMS ChatGPT Edu workspace.
Yes, but only by signing out and signing back in. The desktop app shows one workspace at a time, so your personal account and the UMS ChatGPT Edu workspace won't appear in a list together. Sign out of the workspace you're in, then sign in to the one you want.
No. A ChatGPT Business workspace is a separate organization with its own owner, billing, and settings. It can't be converted, merged, or transferred into the UMS ChatGPT Edu workspace. Your ChatGPT Edu account is a new account that you reach by signing in with your UMS credentials.
Content doesn't cross over on its own. If you want material from the Business workspace in ChatGPT Edu, move it yourself before the Business subscription ends: copy the text of the chats you want to keep, download and re-upload any files, and rebuild custom GPTs in ChatGPT Edu.
The migration acts on your personal chats, not your Business workspace. Your @maine.edu address may have two separate things attached to it: a personal ChatGPT account and your seat in the Business workspace. The migration prompt always applies to the personal side, no matter which workspace you're viewing when you start. Signing in to the Business workspace first doesn't change this.
Your Business workspace won't migrate, and the personal chat history attached to your address will. Content that moves into ChatGPT Edu can't be moved or exported back out, so review your personal chats before you begin.
If both are attached to your @maine.edu address, both workspaces are listed in the account section of the ChatGPT sidebar. Both use the same email address, so the button you select at chatgpt.com (External Link) decides where you land.
- ChatGPT Edu: Type your @maine.edu email address into the email field and continue. This sends you through single sign-on and into ChatGPT Edu. For the full steps, see Logging into ChatGPT Edu.
- ChatGPT Business: Select Continue with Google and use the same @maine.edu address. Signing in this way doesn't trigger single sign-on, so you land in the Business workspace instead of ChatGPT Edu.
In a web browser, you don't have to sign out. Select the other workspace in the account section of the sidebar and choose the sign-in method when prompted. The desktop and mobile apps have no workspace switcher, so there you sign out and sign back in using the method for the workspace you want.
No. ChatGPT Business subscriptions aren't refundable, and UMS can't reimburse the cost of a Business workspace or an unused seat.
You don't cancel a Business subscription yourself. The workspace and its billing belong to the owner who bought it, usually a department or unit. As your billing cycle nears its end, contact your workspace owner so your seat isn't renewed. If you don't know who owns your workspace, submit a ticket through the UMS IT service portal and it will be routed.
Access continues through the end of the period that's already paid for. Move anything you want to keep before that date.
Most people don't. UMS funds ChatGPT Edu for eligible students, faculty, and staff, and ChatGPT Edu is the only ChatGPT environment covered by UMS's agreement with OpenAI. UMS work belongs in ChatGPT Edu.
If your work depends on something a Business workspace provides that ChatGPT Edu doesn't, submit the UMS AI Request Form (External Link) so the need can be reviewed before you renew.
Enrolled full-time and part-time students, faculty, and staff at the seven universities, Maine Law, and the System Office.
ChatGPT Edu isn't available to alumni, retirees, persons of interest (POIs), contractors, volunteers, or guests.
It depends on your UMS group. Students, faculty, and staff each have their own features and monthly credits, and departments can buy Power User and Technical User tiers for more. See What is ChatGPT Edu for what each group gets, and ChatGPT - Plans & Usage Limits for what uses credits.
Not for work you need to keep doing. OpenAI sometimes releases new ChatGPT features as beta features, and some may appear in ChatGPT Edu. Dots, OpenAI's personal agents, are one example.
Beta features can change, stop working, or be removed without notice, and UMS can't guarantee they'll stay available. If you try one, keep your own copy of anything important and have another way to get the work done.
Yes. UMS has taken steps to protect your data, including secure sign-on with your UMS credentials and data encryption. OpenAI also meets recognized security and privacy standards.
No. UMS's agreement with OpenAI prohibits OpenAI from using any UMS environment to train its large language models. A large language model (LLM) is the type of AI system that powers ChatGPT.
UMS won't monitor individual users' interactions with ChatGPT Edu. UMS collects basic use statistics to understand adoption and use patterns, and reports this data publicly only in the aggregate.
UMS keeps the right to audit individual user interactions in isolated and limited cases. UMS respects your privacy and won't actively monitor day-to-day use. As a public institution, though, UMS may need to access or disclose records in response to legal requests, court orders, or specific investigations into possible policy violations.
The UMS ChatGPT Edu workspace is designed for institutional use, with stronger privacy and security controls than consumer accounts. Your conversations are private to you by default, aren't monitored by UMS IT staff, and aren't used to train OpenAI's models. OpenAI staff access to content in the UMS ChatGPT Edu workspace is restricted and generally limited to specific cases such as incident resolution, recovery you authorize, or legal requirements.
You can delete individual chats or all chats from within ChatGPT Edu. A deleted chat disappears from your view immediately and is scheduled for permanent deletion from OpenAI systems within 30 days, with limited exceptions such as legal or security obligations. Deleted chats can't be recovered.
Note: Archiving isn't deleting. Archiving only hides chats from your main view.
OpenAI is retiring custom GPTs and replacing them with plugins. In the UMS ChatGPT Edu workspace:
- You can no longer create new GPTs. You can still edit a GPT you already built, until you migrate it.
- Existing GPTs keep working until December 11, 2026. After that, custom GPTs and their pages stop working.
- Your past conversations with GPTs stay. You don't need to do anything to keep them.
A plugin can do what a GPT did: it brings together reusable instructions, reference files, and connected apps.
- Finish and publish any edits you need first. Only the latest published version moves, and the original GPT becomes read-only after migration. Publishing doesn't require sharing it publicly.
- In ChatGPT, go to My GPTs and select Migrate to plugin for the GPT.
- Review the migration details and follow the steps. Your instructions become a skill, your knowledge files become reference files, and connected apps carry over.
- Test the plugin with prompts you normally use. It may respond differently than the GPT did.
- Share the plugin again. It starts private, and the people who used your GPT don't get access automatically. In Share plugin, you can fill in the GPT's original audience, then review it and select Save.
Only the person who built a GPT, or a workspace admin, can migrate it. Creating or editing a plugin through a conversation uses Work, which uses credits. For more detail, see OpenAI's Custom GPT retirement and migration FAQ (External Link).
You don't need to migrate it, and you can't migrate a GPT you didn't build. Check the notice on the GPT, and ask its creator whether they're replacing it with a plugin. Having access to the GPT doesn't automatically give you access to its plugin, so make sure the creator shares the replacement with you before December 11, 2026.
If you teach with a GPT, the UMS resources on teaching with AI cover recommended ways to talk with students about AI use.
Start with the ChatGPT Quick Start Guide. OpenAI also offers short self-paced videos, hosted on Vimeo. The running time is listed after each title.
Still have questions?
Environment
- University of Maine System (UMS) ChatGPT Edu workspace
- Eligible students, faculty, and staff at the seven universities, Maine Law, and the System Office
- Sign in with UMS credentials (single sign-on)
- Web browser at chatgpt.com, the ChatGPT desktop apps for Windows and macOS, and the mobile apps for iOS and Android