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tag: NC-SARA

Past Event
June 3, 2026

Postsecondary Value Convening

In 2024, Arnold Ventures, the Gates Foundation, the Joyce Foundation, and Strada Education Foundation partnered to fund a set of applied research projects aimed at closing the gap between what we know about student success and what policymakers can actually do about it. Through a competitive RFP process they commissioned thirteen projects focused on three interlocking topic areas: institutional improvement and support; accountability in diverse institutional contexts; and governance and structural dynamics. This full-day, in-person convening brings together the researchers…
Research Report
August 3, 2021

Breaking Down Barriers

The Impact of State Authorization Reciprocity on Online Enrollment

State authorization, or the approval by a given state for a college to operate within its jurisdiction, is an important part of the regulatory triad. The triad is the three-pronged oversight of higher education that includes the federal government, accrediting bodies, and state governments. State authorization has become more complicated with the rapid expansion of online education that is blurring state geographic boundaries. Colleges seeking to enroll students from numerous states in online programs must obtain authorization in each of…
Blog Post
May 19, 2021

Examining the Relationship between NC-SARA and Online Enrollments

Implications for Policy and Research

In order to be eligible to access federal student aid programs, colleges and universities are required to receive authorization from the state or states within which they operate. The rise in online postsecondary programs over the last decade created increasingly complicated administrative challenges to state authorization: institutions that sought to enroll “out-of-state” students in their online programs needed to seek authorization from every state in which those students resided. To streamline this process, in 2014 higher education leaders formed the…