The State Authorization Reciprocity Agreements (SARA) provide an effective, regional approach to oversight of postsecondary distance education.
The State Authorization Reciprocity Agreements (SARA) provide a voluntary, regional approach to state oversight of postsecondary distance education. States voluntarily join SARA, agreeing to follow uniform processes for approving their eligible institutions’ participation in SARA. They also agree to deal with other states’ SARA institutions in a common way when those institutions carry out activities in SARA states other than their own.
SARA’s uniform standards and policies provide benefits to both states and institutions carrying out distance education in multiple states. As of June 2025, 49 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands all voluntarily participate in SARA. More than 2,400 institutions participate, of which 650 institutions are in MHEC states.
Eleven states are participating in the Midwestern State Authorization Reciprocity Agreement (M-SARA): Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, and Wisconsin. South Dakota, also a MHEC member state, joined SARA through the Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education.
LEARN MORE ABOUT THE REGIONAL STEERING COMMITTEE HELPING GUIDE THE WORK OF M-SARA
