DPSA Links and Form

Governor Lee signed 2022 Tenn. Pub. Ch. 1044 on May 11, 2022. The Act is effective July 1, 2022, and refines how Tennessee regulates postsecondary educational institutions as defined in Title 49, Chapter 7, Part 20. The Act dissolved the Committee on Postsecondary Educational Institutions.

• Additional information on the legislation, related rules, and adjustment of existing authorization dates is available HERE.
• Additional Information on the application review process and training is available HERE.

As a result of the foregoing, future application due dates have not been set. Additionally, applications and other forms will change. Therefore, the review of Initial Authorization and New Program Applications will resume after July 1, 2022. Please check back to this webpage for future updates. For additional information or questions regarding the application process, please contact DPSA at 615.741.5293 or via email at THEC.DPSA-Application@tn.gov

Filing and Fee Payment Instructions

All applications, certifications requests, and supporting documentation must be submitted to the Division of Postsecondary State Authorization (DPSA) according to the following instructions. Failure to file as instructed could delay the processing of the filing.

Fee Payments

Fees may be paid by credit card or debit card. To do so, you will need to create an invoice HERE and complete the payment process. DPSA encourages you to pay using this online method as DPSA's access to mailed payments is limited. There is a small convenience charge applied to the total fee payment; however, the convenience charge is not paid to DPSA. Rather, it is paid to the third-party processor, and the amount of the convenience charge will be disclosed to you prior to submitting payment.

If you are unable to pay using a credit card or debit card, please send an email to Marcie.Mills@tn.gov and include in the subject line the full name of your institution and, if applicable, the institution code.

Filing for Initial Authorization

Additional information regarding the application and filing requirements will be posted as it is available. Information on Initial Authorization training is available HERE.

Applications for Change of Name, Change of Location, Change of Ownership, OEA New Program Notification, and School Personnel Application,

• These documents must be emailed to THEC.DPSA-Application@tn.gov.
• The email subject line must include the title of the filing and the Institution Name and Code, for example, “School Personnel Application - ABC University - Code 1234.”
• All documents must be scanned in PDF format except Excel files should remain in Excel format.

If the application requires a notarized document, the notarized document must be scanned in color or completed using an online notary.  See the Tennessee Secretary of State’s website for more information on this service. If you are unable to submit the document(s) via email for technical reasons, for example the size of the document, you should contact Marcie Mills at marcie.mills@tn.gov  to receive instruction for submitting your materials.