Registration – Out-of-State Colleges

To offer distance education programs to students in Connecticut, colleges and universities that do not have a presence in the state and are not part of the State Authorization Reciprocity Agreement (SARA) must apply to the CT Office of Higher Education. The registration will be valid until December 31 2020.

Then it needs to be renewed annually. It’s important to note that currently the Office of Higher Education does not authorize instruction that is solely based on internships, externships, student teaching, clinical placements, field placements or practical experience.

For an Institution of Higher Education to be considered eligible;

• The institution must have a Federal Composite Financial Score of 1.5 or higher. However institutions with scores between 1.0 1.49 will be evaluated on a case by case basis.
• The institution should have a webpage for student complaints which refers Connecticut students to the Office of Higher Education for handling complaints from, out of state students.
• It should have national accreditation.

To ensure the protection of consumers institutions that are not part of the program must fulfill certain academic, financial and procedural obligations. These include;

• Adhering to the Interregional Guidelines for the Evaluation of Distance Education, which have been adopted by the Council of Regional Accrediting Commissions. You can find these guidelines Online_Learning_Guidelines.
• Collaborating with the Connecticut Office of Higher Education to address any complaints from students in Connecticut and respecting their decisions.
• Informing students in writing about whether a course or program that typically leads to licensure meets Connecticuts licensure requirements or if it is uncertain whether it does.
• Paying an annual non refundable Out of State Application fee for Connecticut. Please make checks payable, to Treasurer, State of Connecticut.

Here are the annual application fees for out of state SARA institutions;

$3,000 for institutions with FTE under 1,999
$6,000 for institutions with FTE 2,000 – 9,999
$9,000 for institutions with FTE 10,000+

If your institution is interested in offering distance education programs to students in Connecticut please complete the registration form using one of the following options;

For payments made via ACH/eCheck please use this form; ACH/eCheck Form
For payments made by credit card please use this form; Credit Card Form*
(*Please note that an additional 3% convenience fee will apply)

Provisional Authorization;

1. DeVry University
2. National American University

Authorized Institutions;

1. University Of Arizona Global Campus
2. Univesrity Of Massachusetts Global Campus
3. California Intercontinental Unversity
4. University Of California Berkeley
5. Golden Gate Unveristy
6. University of Leadership and Ministry Inc.
7. Chamberlain University
8. MTI College
9. The Chicago School of Professional Psychology
10. Academy of Art University
11. Aspen University
12. United States University
13. Loyola Marymount University
14. San Jose State University
15. Fuller Theological Seminary
16. Biola University
17. University of California Davis
18. Institute of Culinary Education
19. National University
20. University of St Augustine, for Health Sciences (various campuses mentioned)
21. Chamberlain Unversity (mentioned again)
22. California Coast Unversity
23. William Jessup Unversity
24. Los Angeles Film School
25. Fielding Graduate University
26. Pacific College of Health and Science
27. California Institute of Integral Studies
28. Walden University