DRAFT DOCUMENTS

FINAL – Application and Approval Form for Institution Participation – effective 7/1/2026

The Application and Approval Form for Institution Participation in SARA has been updated and will be effective July 1, 2026. The application has been updated to reflect the pending effective dates of a few PMPs approved during the 2025 PMP cycle, as well as changes to support the “electronic enhancements” initiative, including additional information to be collected from institutions via the application and aligning fields with the SARA Portal. Below the links to the final, fillable PDF and the “redline” showing the changes between the 1/1 and 7/1 2026 versions are a detailing of the new policy reflected.

We are providing this final version for SPEs now, and as usual will post this latest version publicly in mid-May with an announcement via eBlast to all institutions and SPEs. If you have your own “electronic” version of the application for your home state institutions, this should also help you make updates as needed in plenty of time for the new application to be effective.

Application and Approval Form for Institution Participation in SARA (7/1/26 fillable PDF)

Application and Approval Form for Institution Participation in SARA (7/1/26 redline version)

  • Added new disclosure per PMP25-0746: Submitting Teach Out Plans to States
    • 3.9.d. A SARA-participating institution that is required to submit an institutional teach-out plan, teach-out agreement, or any other closure-related plan with an accrediting agency, authorizing entity, or ED shall simultaneously provide a copy of said plan or agreement, at initial submission and upon finalization if applicable, to its SARA State Portal Entity, including all related documentation from the requesting agency and any additional information requested by the SARA State Portal Entity. Personally identifying information shall not be included in the submission to the SARA State Portal Entity. This applies to both Title IV and non-Title IV participating institutions and programs.
  • Added language to preamble per PMP25-0750: SPE’s Ability to Review a New Institution Applicant
    • 2.5 Functional responsibilities of SARA States
      c. When considering an application for participation, whether initial or renewal, the SARA State Portal Entity shall review the application and supporting documentation to determine if the institution meets SARA requirements. Under certain conditions, a state may approve an institution’s participation in SARA under provisional status. See 3.2 and 3.3 below.
  • Added the specific requirements of PMP25-0751: Provisional Status Disclosure
    • 3.2 Provisional admission or renewal of an Institution
      f. An institution admitted or renewed for participation in SARA on provisional status shall be required to disclose such status on its website, including a reason for the status, in a format and manner acceptable to the SARA State Portal Entity, within 10 days of the institution’s notification. Any references to the institution’s participation in SARA on its website shall include a disclaimer that such institution’s participation is provisional (e.g., web pages that include SARA complaint information, state authorization pages that bear the NC-SARA approval mark, etc.) along with the reason category.
  • Added new disclosure per PMP25-0753: SPE Notification of Changes to FRC Scores
    • 3.9.c. If an institution determines or is notified that its composite score has changed such that it crosses a participation eligibility threshold, it will have a maximum of thirty days to notify its State Portal Entity and provide any documentation relating to its composite score.

Changes are also reflected to support the “electronic enhancements” initiative based upon feedback from the Electronic Enhancements Working Group, including new space for the institution to include information on the application and aligning fields on the application form with the portal to enable data transmission from the application form into the portal. The goal of this initiative is to provide information from the SARA portal in a report for institutions as they begin the annual renewal process, and as needed for comparison and potential updates throughout the year. We hope to have an update on this initiative for all SPEs later in 2026.