Open Authorization

Open Authorization (OAuth) is an open standard for access delegation. It lets users grant third-party applications limited access to their resources on another service without sharing their password. OAuth 2.0, the current version, is widely used across the web for both authorization and, when combined with OpenID Connect, authentication.

In edtech, OAuth enables several important use cases. Students can sign into school applications using their Google or Microsoft accounts. Third-party tools can access student data from the SIS through authorized API calls. Mobile apps can securely interact with backend systems. All without the user ever sharing their institutional password with a third party.

OpenEduCat uses OAuth 2.0 for API authentication, allowing authorized third-party applications to securely access institutional data. IT administrators control which applications have access and what level of data they can read or modify, keeping full governance over institutional data while supporting a connected ecosystem of tools.

OAuth 2.0 has become the standard for consumer-grade application authentication in education, primarily through the "Login with Google" and "Login with Microsoft" buttons that students now expect on every application. Understanding the difference between OAuth (authorization, granting access to resources) and SAML (authentication, proving identity) matters for IT administrators managing education software.

The practical takeaway: OAuth works well for student-facing applications where students sign in with their institutional Google or Microsoft accounts. SAML is better for enterprise applications where the institution needs centralized control over access tokens, session lifetimes, and attribute assertions. Most modern education platforms support both, so institutions can use SAML for backend admin systems and OAuth for student-facing portals.

OAuth 2.0 also powers API authorization in edtech. Applications use OAuth tokens instead of username/password credentials to authenticate API requests. This is what allows, for example, a third-party analytics tool to read anonymized enrollment data from the SIS via API without ever seeing a user's password. The token can be scoped to read-only access, limited to specific data types, and revoked centrally without changing any passwords. OpenEduCat's API uses OAuth 2.0 for all programmatic access, ensuring third-party integrations operate with the minimum permissions they need.