As community colleges prepare for another Fall semester, many of us are continuing to strengthen cybersecurity by expanding Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA). It's the right thing to do.

But here's a question I've been thinking about.

Should owning a personal smartphone become a requirement for accessing a community college education?

I don't believe it should.

Community colleges welcome students from every stage of life. Recent high school graduates, early college students, working adults, military veterans, parents returning to school, retirees, and those pursuing a second chance or a new career. That diversity is one of our greatest strengths, but it also means we can't assume every student has the same access to technology.

Some early college students may not have access to a phone during the school day because of K-12 policies or parental restrictions. Others may have a broken phone, share one with family members, or simply choose not to own one. In many of our communities, the cost of a smartphone and an ongoing cellular plan isn't always within reach.

The answer isn't to weaken security or create MFA exceptions. Every exception increases risk and leaves our institutions more vulnerable.

Instead, we should be planning for secure alternatives.

Hardware security keys and physical MFA tokens should be part of our MFA strategy, just like student IDs, textbooks, or lab equipment. They provide strong, phishing-resistant authentication while ensuring students can securely access the systems and services they need, regardless of the personal devices they own.

Security and accessibility should work together. Protecting our systems should never mean creating unnecessary barriers for the students we're here to serve.

As IT leaders, our responsibility isn't just to deploy secure technology. It's to build solutions that reflect the realities of the communities we support.

If your community college required MFA for every student tomorrow, could every student successfully authenticate without using a personal smartphone? If not, what's your plan?