IT: Academic VPN

open vpn logo

If you plan to use Cooper’s site license for our academic software or need to remote into a computer on campus, you will need access to the Cooper Academic VPN.  A VPN is a secure "virtual private network."  

Below are instructions on how to install and connect: 

Install Cooper VPN Software (OpenVPN) 

  • Go to https://academicvpn.cooper.edu and log-in with your Cooper email credentials
  • Download and install the OpenVPN client for your particular operating system. 
  • Users do not need to request explicit access to the Academic VPN. 

Connect to OpenVPN 

  • Connect to OpenVPN and use your Cooper email credentials to login. 
  • On Windows you can connect via the OpenVPN desktop shortcut or the orange globe icon in the taskbar.  On a Mac, you can connect by clicking the orange icon in your Menu Bar or in the Applications Folder. If you get a warning about a certificate error, you can ignore and proceed. Once you are connected, you will see a green check mark on the OpenVPN icon and you can now use Remote Desktop to connect. 

Using Cooper’s Academic Software Site License 

  • If you have been granted permission to software tied to Cooper’s academic site license, you will need to know the license server for each particular piece of software.  That information will be shared with you in an email from IT at the time you are granted access. 

To Connect to a Remote Computer for Software Access

  • If you are using Windows, you can use “Remote Desktop Connection”  to connect with an IP address.
  • If you are using a Mac, you can download Microsoft Remote Desktop from the Apple App Store. 
  • You will receive the IP address and login credentials to connect to your remote computer in an email from IT.

  • Founded by inventor, industrialist and philanthropist Peter Cooper in 1859, The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art offers education in art, architecture and engineering, as well as courses in the humanities and social sciences.

  • “My feelings, my desires, my hopes, embrace humanity throughout the world,” Peter Cooper proclaimed in a speech in 1853. He looked forward to a time when, “knowledge shall cover the earth as waters cover the great deep.”

  • From its beginnings, Cooper Union was a unique institution, dedicated to founder Peter Cooper's proposition that education is the key not only to personal prosperity but to civic virtue and harmony.

  • Peter Cooper wanted his graduates to acquire the technical mastery and entrepreneurial skills, enrich their intellects and spark their creativity, and develop a sense of social justice that would translate into action.