Return to State Authorization of Postsecondary Education
Background
In the fall of 2010, the U.S. Department of Education announced PROGRAM INTEGRITY RULES, requiring all institutions of higher education participating in Title IV programs to be able to document compliance with state laws in all states where they offer distance or correspondence education.
While the federal state authorization rule pertaining to distance education was vacated on a technicality on July 12, 2011, it is likely to be reinstated. More important, the Department has rightly indicated that compliance with existing state laws has always been a condition of Title IV eligibility, and the announced regulation simply calls attention to the need for institutions to assure they have legal authority to operate in all the states where they are providing instruction.
To help address this need, SHEEO has developed a directory of agencies and individuals responsible for implementing state quality assurance laws as well as a compendium of state laws and regulations. These resources were developed in close cooperation with NCHEMS, the National Center for Higher Education Management Systems, whose Vice President Peter Ewell has led previous surveys of state regulatory practices for postsecondary instruction and the cooperative relationships of states with accrediting associations.
The completed directory of state regulatory agencies and compendium of state laws and regulatory practices, as of June 2012, are posted below. SHEEO plans to update this information regularly through a formal biannual request for updates to each of the listed agencies.
We gratefully acknowledge the assistance of our colleagues in the state agencies who have provided this information, and the members and organizations represented on the SHEEO State Authorization Advisory Board who have contributed generously to this project.
For more information please contact Sharmila Mann at 303-541-1602 (sbmann@sheeo.org).
Survey Development
Reports from Survey Data
- Directory of State Authorization Agencies and Lead Contacts (May 2013)
- Student Complaint Process by State (December 2012)
- Fees Summary, by State (December 2012)
- Physical Presence Triggers, by Agency (December 2012)
- Summative Analysis of Survey Data, 2011-2012 (October 2012)
Survey Results
These are the individual state agency responses to the survey currently in progress. For more information please contact Sharmila Mann at 303-541-1602 (sbmann@sheeo.org).
All Agency Responses (single pdf)—May 2013
All Agency Responses (single pdf)—June 2012
All Agency Responses (single pdf)—October 2011
Agency Responses, by State
|
Alabama |
Alabama Commission on Higher Education |
May 2013 |
|
|
Alabama Department of Postsecondary Education, Office of Private School Licensing Division |
May 2013 |
| Alabama Secretary of State | May 2013 | |
|
Alaska |
Alaska Commission on Postsecondary Education |
|
|
Arizona |
Arizona State Board for Private Postsecondary Education |
May 2013 |
|
Arkansas |
Arkansas Department of Higher Education |
May 2013 |
|
|
Arkansas State Board of Private Career Education |
October 2011 |
|
California |
California Bureau for Private Postsecondary Education |
May 2013 |
|
Colorado |
Colorado Department of Higher Education |
May 2013 |
|
|
Colorado Division of Private Occupational Schools |
May 2013 |
|
Connecticut |
Connecticut Office of Higher Education |
May 2013 |
|
Delaware |
Delaware Department of Education |
May 2013 |
|
District of Columbia |
District of Columbia Education Licensure Commission |
October 2011 |
|
Florida |
Florida Department of Education, Commission for Independent Education |
May 2013 |
|
Georgia |
Georgia Nonpublic Postsecondary Education Commission |
May 2013 |
|
Hawaii |
Authorizing agency in process |
|
|
Idaho |
Idaho State Board of Education |
May 2013 |
|
Illinois |
Illinois Board of Higher Education |
May 2013 |
|
Indiana |
Indiana Commission for Higher Education |
May 2013 |
| Indiana Department of Workforce Development, Office for Career and Technical Schools | May 2013 | |
|
Iowa |
Iowa College Student Aid Commission |
May 2013 |
|
Kansas |
Kansas Board of Regents |
May 2013 |
|
Kentucky |
Kentucky Commission on Proprietary Education |
May 2013 |
|
|
Kentucky Council on Postsecondary Education |
|
|
Louisiana |
Louisiana Board of Regents |
May 2013 |
|
Maine |
Maine Department of Education, Office of Higher Education |
October 2011 |
|
Maryland |
Maryland Higher Education Commission |
May 2013 |
|
Massachusetts |
Massachusetts Department of Higher Education |
May 2013 |
|
Michigan |
Michigan Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs |
May 2013 |
|
Minnesota |
Minnesota Office of Higher Education |
May 2013 |
|
Mississippi |
Mississippi Commission on College Accreditation |
May 2013 |
|
|
Mississippi Commission on Proprietary School and College Registration |
May 2013 |
|
Missouri |
Missouri Department of Higher Education |
June 2012 |
|
Montana |
Montana University System, Montana Board of Regents |
May 2013 |
|
Nebraska |
Nebraska's Coordinating Commission for Postsecondary Education |
May 2013 |
|
|
Nebraska Department of Education, Private Postsecondary Career Schools |
May 2013 |
|
Nevada |
Nevada Commission on Postsecondary Education |
May 2013 |
|
New Hampshire |
New Hampshire Department of Education, Division of Higher Education, Higher Education Commission |
May 2013 |
|
New Jersey |
New Jersey Secretary of Higher Education |
May 2013 |
|
|
New Jersey Department of Labor and Workforce Development, Center for Occupational Employment Information |
May 2013 |
|
New Mexico |
New Mexico Higher Education Department |
May 2013 |
|
New York |
New York Office of College and University Evaluation |
May 2013 |
|
|
New York State Education Department, Bureau of Proprietary School Supervision |
May 2013 |
|
North Carolina |
The University of North Carolina Board of Governors |
May 2013 |
|
|
North Carolina Community College System, Office of Proprietary School Services |
May 2013 |
|
North Dakota |
North Dakota Department of Career and Technical Education |
May 2013 |
|
Ohio |
Ohio Board of Regents |
May 2013 |
|
|
Ohio State Board of Career Colleges and Schools |
October 2011 |
|
Oklahoma |
Oklahoma Board of Career and Technology Education |
|
|
|
Oklahoma Board of Private Schools |
May 2013 |
|
|
Oklahoma State Regents for Higher Education |
May 2013 |
|
Oregon |
Oregon Department of Education, Private and Career Schools Office |
October 2011 |
|
|
Oregon Office of Degree Authorization |
May 2013 |
|
Pennsylvania |
Pennsylvania Department of Education |
May 2013 |
|
Puerto Rico |
Puerto Rico Council on Education |
May 2013 |
|
Rhode Island |
Rhode Island Board of Governors for Higher Education |
May 2013 |
|
South Carolina |
South Carolina Commission on Higher Education |
May 2013 |
|
South Dakota |
South Dakota Secretary of State |
May 2013 |
|
Tennessee |
Tennessee Higher Education Commission, Division of Postsecondary School Authorization |
May 2013 |
|
Texas |
Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board |
May 2013 |
|
|
Texas Workforce Commission |
May 2013 |
|
Utah |
Utah Division of Consumer Protection |
May 2013 |
|
Vermont |
Vermont State Board of Education, through the Vermont Agency of Education |
May 2013 |
|
Virginia |
Virginia State Council of Higher Education, Private and Out-of-State Postsecondary Education |
May 2013 |
|
Washington |
Washington Student Achievement Council |
May 2013 |
|
|
Washington Workforce Training and Education Coordinating Board |
May 2013 |
|
West Virginia |
West Virginia Council for Community and Technical College Education |
May 2013 |
|
|
West Virginia Higher Education Policy Commission |
May 2013 |
|
Wisconsin |
Wisconsin Educational Approval Board |
May 2013 |
|
Wyoming |
Wyoming Department of Education |
May 2013 |
|
|
|
|
|
Other U.S Territories |
||
|
American Samoa |
|
|
|
Federated States of Micronesia |
|
|
|
Guam |
|
|
|
Republic of the Marshall Islands |
|
|
|
Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands |
|
|
|
Republic of Palau |
|
|
|
U.S. Virgin Islands |
|
|
Back to STATE AUTHORIZATION main page.