State Authorization (UT SARA)
The State Authorization Reciprocity Agreement (SARA) is an agreement among member states, districts and territories that establishes comparable national standards for interstate offering of postsecondary distance education courses and programs. SARA policies help protect students and provide guidance for institutions providing in distance education in multiple states.
The National Council for State Authorization Reciprocity Agreements (NC-SARA) helps states, institutions, policymakers, and students understand the purpose and benefits of participating in SARA. Today, more than 2,200 institutions in 49 member states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands all voluntarily participate in SARA.
The Utah Board of Higher Education is the agency designated to serve as the Utah SARA portal entity — the Utah point of contact for students and institutions for SARA questions, complaints and other communications. USHE works closely with the Utah Department of Commerce’s Division of Consumer Protection to ensure complaints against schools relating to fraud, false advertising, or other deceptive practices are resolved according to state statute as well as NC-SARA policies.
SARA is intended to ensure students enroll with reputable institutions. Institutions that choose to participate in SARA are required to follow policies and standards established by NC-SARA.
A list of all participating states and institutions are maintained by NC-SARA.
To be eligible to participate in SARA, institutions must be:
- Located in a SARA member state;
- A degree-granting institution, appropriately authorized by Congress, a U.S. state, territory or district, or a federally recognized Indian tribe to award associate degrees or higher;
- Institutional accredited by an accrediting body recognized by the U.S. Department of Education and whose scope of recognition, as specified by the U.S. Department of Education, includes distance education; and
- For non-public institution, meet the institutional financial responsibility requirements for SARA participation.
- Gather supporting documents.
- Review academic standards institutions must attest to.
- Use the access code emailed to the institution’s primary contact to access the online application process. Complete and submit the online form.
- Pay the UT SARA annual fee.
Institution applications, initial or renewal, are reviewed by the committee three times per year. If approved for a 12-month period, the institution’s status as a SARA institution is recorded with the National Council for State Authorization Reciprocity Agreements (NC-SARA). Institutions then receive an email from the NC-SARA system with instructions for paying the national SARA fees. Once payment is received by NC-SARA, the institution is a SARA institution and will be listed on nc-sara.org.
Institutions should receive an official renewal email from NC-SARA. Retain both UT SARA email and NC SARA email as proof of authorization in SARA states for those activities covered by the agreement. In addition, the institution will be listed on nc-sara.org.
UT SARA is the final contact point for complaints about Utah SARA institutions resulting from distance education courses, activities, and operations outside of Utah. As the state portal agency, UT SARA serves as the final decision-maker on SARA-related complaints.
To file a SARA complaint, you must:
• File within two years of the date of the incident.
• First file and follow through with the institution’s complaint process. If the complaint is not resolved after going through the institutional complaint process, students may file with UT SARA.
• Address a complaint that the institution violated a standard or regulation of the terms of SARA (see institution eligibility in section 3 of SARA manual); and
• Be a student residing outside Utah enrolled at a UT SARA institution:
• Students residing in Utah may not use UT SARA to complain about distance education courses offered by a Utah institution. Students residing in Utah may use UT SARA to complain about distance education courses offered by a SARA postsecondary institution in another state.
• Students outside Utah involved with distance education from a UT SARA institution may file a complaint with UT SARA. They can also file a complaint with their state’s enforcement authority.
Once a complaint is filed, UT SARA will conduct a review within five business days. If the complaint fits within the SARA jurisdiction, investigation and follow up will take place. If the complaint does not fall under the SARA jurisdiction, it may be referred to another entity for investigation and follow up.
• Complaints covered by the student code of conduct, such as grade grievances or conduct issues – that have not been filed with the institution — will be referred to the institution. Students should follow an institution’s process for filing a complaint.
• Complaints relating to fraud, false advertising, or other deceptive practices will be referred to the Utah Division of Consumer Protection:
Utah Division of Consumer Protection
160 East 300 East, 2nd Floor, Salt Lake City, UT 84111
801-530-6601 or 1-800-721-SAFE
dcp.utah.gov/complaints.html
• Complaints relating to an institution’s quality of education may be referred to the UT SARA institution’s accreditor.
