Eligibility for Participation

Institutions may be eligible to apply for participation in SARA in their “home state” if they meet the institutional eligibility requirements detailed in the SARA Policy Manual, Section 3.1, including but not limited to:

  • The institution is located in a SARA member state;
  • The institution is 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;
  • The institution is institutionally 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.
  • The institution agrees that, in cases where the institution cannot fully deliver the instruction for which a student has contracted, it will provide a reasonable alternative for delivering the instruction or reasonable financial compensation for the education the student did not receive.

Non-public institutions must also meet the institutional financial responsibility requirements for SARA participation.