Transcript SARA and TheAdultLeaner.org

Past, Present & Likely Future
of State Authorization
Reciprocity Agreement
(SARA)
March 2, 2015
State Authorization Reciprocity
Agreement
SARA establishes a state-level reciprocity process
that will support the nation in efforts to increase the
educational attainment of its people by making state
authorization:
• more efficient, effective, and uniform in regard to
necessary and reasonable standards of practice that
could span states;
• more effective in dealing with quality and integrity
issues that have arisen in some online/distance
education offerings; and
• less costly for states and institutions and, thereby, the
students they serve.
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WHY SARA?
• Our country lags many others in the
educational attainment of our 18-34 age
population.
• Distance education can play an important
role in increasing attainment. We need to
maximize its contributions.
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The SARA Solution
A nation-wide system of reciprocity administered
by the four existing regional compacts:
MHEC
NEBHE
WICHE
SREB
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Essential Principles of SARA
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Voluntary for states and institutions.
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Acknowledges the traditional roles within higher
education’s “accountability triad”:
• federal government
• States
• accrediting bodies recognized by the U.S.
Department of Education
Framework for state level-reciprocity
Implemented by four regional compacts & National
Council for SARA
Requires states to approve their
in-state institutions for SARA participation
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Essential Principles of SARA
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SARA states agree to impose no additional (non-SARA)
fees or requirements on institutions from other SARA
states.
Open to degree-granting postsecondary institutions
from all sectors
Sets forth a reasonable, uniform set of triggers of
“physical presence”.
Preserves state approval and oversight of on-theground campuses
Shifts principal oversight responsibilities the “home
state” of the institution
Initial funding from Lumina Foundation, additional
funding by Gates Foundation, eventual reliance on
institutional fees paid to the National Council for SARA.
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SARA Benefits Students
• Expands access to educational offerings.
• Should lead to better resolution of
complaints from students in SARA states.
• Reduces a rapidly growing institutional
cost that is in one way or another passed
along to students.
• Should enhance overall quality of
distance education.
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SARA Benefits Institutions
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Enables more efficient provision of distance education
to a broader market.
Reduces number of applications to other states.
Reduces number of other-state regulations to monitor
for changes.
Reduced costs = potentially lower fees for students.
• Annual SARA Fees by FTE:
• Under 2500
$2,000
• 2,500-9,999
$4,000
• 10,000 or more $6,000
State Fees:
• Range from no fees to fees larger than SARA fees.
They may be graduated or flat. In general they
appear to equal or be less than the SARA fee
amount.
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SARA Benefits States
• Expands educational offerings to residents.
• Allows SARA states to focus on their homestate institutions.
• Maintains state regulation of on-the-ground
instruction offered by out-of-state institutions.
• Other SARA states will help resolve
complaints.
• Reduces costs for institutions.
• No fees charged to states to participate in
SARA.
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State Actions on SARA Participation
As of March 2, 2015:
• 19 SARA States: Alaska, Arizona, Colorado,
Idaho, Indiana, Kansas, Louisiana,
Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska,
Nevada, New Hampshire, North Dakota,
Oregon, South Dakota, Virginia, Washington
and West Virginia
• Legislation passed in an additional six
states
• An additional four states have determined
• that no legislation is needed to enable
participation in SARA
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Physical Presence: SARA Institutions
An institution HAS physical presence and
therefore must meet the state’s current non-SARA
requirements if it does any of the following:
• Establishes a physical location for instruction
• Requires students to meet in a location more than 2x
per full term for more than 6 hours total
• Establishes an administrative office
• Provides info/services to students from a physical site
• Offers a short course of more than 20 contact hours
• Provides office space for staff
• Maintains a mailing address/phone exchange in state
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Physical Presence: SARA Institutions
A SARA institution does NOT have physical
presence in SARA member states if only:
• Offering courses via distance education
• Advertising
• Offering DE courses - military base to federal
employees/family
• Maintaining a server or electronic services
• Having faculty /academic personnel in member state
• Holding proctored exams
• Having contractual arrangements in home or host state
• Operating limited supervised field experiences
• Using recruiters
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Military & SARA
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If the state within which the military personnel are
stationed and the state and institution(s) providing the
education are all SARA approved, no additional
approvals are required except as stated per licensure
program information.
If the education provider is not a SARA approved
institution, then the normal state approval process
must be completed.
Military members engaged in off-duty education may
be re-assigned to states where the institution may not
have authorization.
Some institutions may not obtain authorization for a
few students, requiring military student to delay
completion or state again.
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Licensure & SARA
Institutions agree to notify in writing
• students in a program that customarily leads to
professional licensure, whether or not the
course/program meets requirements for
licensure in the state where the student resides.
• If the institutions does not know whether or not
this meets licensure requirements in student’s
state of residence, the institution may satisfy
this requirement by informing the student that
such information is not known and the student
should contact the appropriate state licensing
board.
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SREB’s Electronic Campus Regional
Reciprocity Agreement (SECRRA)
All 16 SREB States as of July 1, 2014
Institution Requirements:
• Regionally Accredited
• Not For Profit
• Charted in a SREB state
Course and Program Requirements
• In the Electronic Campus.org
• SECRRA Phase-Out
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www.TheAdultLearner.org
Adult Degree Completion
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Adult Degree Completion
Guiding Principles (TAL.org)
1. Programs must be offered in an online or blended
(hybrid) format
2. Program courses must be offered in an flexible
academic format
3. Institutions offering degree completion programs must
be “adult-friendly” (ALFI Principles)
4. Institutions must provide options for Prior Learning
Assessment (PLA) and should recognize and apply
previously earned credits toward eligible degree
programs.
1. Prior Learning Assessment is not just one method or
tool
2. Prior Learning Assessment is more than the acceptance
of transferable credits.
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NC-SARA Website
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Learn More About SARA
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NC-SARA website: www.nc-sara.org
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Sign up to receive the newsletter
Regional Education Compacts:
• MHEC – www.mhec.org/SARA
• NEBHE – www.nebhe.org/SARA
• SREB – www.sreb.org/SARA
• WICHE – www.wiche.edu/SARA
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