The Experiences of Higher Education Authorizing Agencies With Implementing State Authorization Reciprocity
State authorization reciprocity gives higher education institutions in participating states authorization to provide online postsecondary education in other participating states without having to undergo those states’ own authorization process. To date, 49 states plus the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands participate in the State Authorization Reciprocity Agreement (SARA). Though SARA provides a minimum standard for authorization and requires states to have a process for receiving student complaints about institutions, there have been criticisms of SARA, including that it does not allow states to enforce higher standards for authorization than what is provided in the reciprocity agreement. Moreover, with state resources being limited, there is a concern that SARA imposes additional burdens on state governments that they may not have the capacity to meet.
The purpose of this study was to investigate state agencies’ experiences with state authorization reciprocity, and specifically with SARA. Data sources included a standardized questionnaire, interviews, and document analysis. Between interviews and the questionnaire, a total of 20 states participated in this research.
Findings indicate that in general, existing employees of state agencies were given SARA responsibilities in addition to their already-assigned job duties, and that the number of staff dedicated to SARA issues was small. State-level SARA implementers reported that they have received satisfactory training on SARA at no cost to their agencies. Moreover, states’ complaint processes have not appreciably changed as a result of SARA, and complaints reaching the state level remain rare. State agency staff’s engagement with other states to resolve complaints has generally been limited.
The most frequently mentioned cost of joining SARA was the additional staff time needed to implement the agreement, although other costs have included administrative expenses and a reduction in revenues from out-of-state institutions seeking authorization. States are also unable to enforce their own higher education-specific consumer-related regulations against out-of-state SARA institutions. State-level benefits of joining SARA include saving time due to fewer out-of-state inquiries, receiving free training, and developing relationships with their counterparts across states. Respondents frequently mentioned that institutions benefit substantially from not having to spend time and money obtaining authorization from numerous states. Several respondents also mentioned that students benefit indirectly from having a larger number of educational opportunities and having all SARA institutions meet a minimum requirement for authorization, because some states did not require authorization for outof-state institutions prior to joining SARA.
