TN-SARA
History and Background
During the 1960's and 70's there was extensive growth and recognition of postsecondary programs outside the traditional higher education sector. Federal education legislation in 1972 encouraged broad recognition of postsecondary institutions in state planning. As a result, states across the country began to develop frameworks to authorize the operation of postsecondary educational institutions. In 1961, Tennessee established the Private Business Schools State Board, and the initial Tennessee authorization framework was created.
Tennessee played a national role as well. In June of 1973, a national task force comprised of representatives from the Education Commission of States and state agencies published the Report of the Task Force on Model State Legislation for Approval of Postsecondary Educational Institutions and Authorization to Grant Degrees. Tennessee’s Governor Winfield Dunn chaired the Education Commission of States and Tennessee State Representative Tom Jensen chaired the task force.
On March 29, 1974, Pub. Ch. No. 781 passed, and the Postsecondary Education Authorization Act of 1974 (“PEAA”) was enacted. The stated purpose of the PEAA is to “provide for the protection, education, and welfare of the citizens of the state of Tennessee, its postsecondary educational institutions, and its students.” The legislation formed the Commission on Postsecondary Vocational Education Institutional Authorization, which was responsible for authorizing and regulating postsecondary degree granting and non-degree granting vocational education institutions. The Tennessee Higher Education Commission (“THEC”) was delegated the responsibility for authorizing and regulating postsecondary educational institutions offering academic degrees. In 1983, all postsecondary education authorization responsibilities were transferred to THEC, and a five-member Advisory Committee on Postsecondary Vocational Education Institutions is created.
In 1992, the Advisory Committee was replaced with the Committee on Postsecondary Educational Institutions and more rigorous standards created. Many amendments to the authorization framework were enacted from 1992 until 2015. In general, the amendments strengthened the regulatory framework and responded to the ever-changing landscape of higher education.
Starting as early as 2008, state authorization experts discussed the need for multi-state authorization through reciprocity. The topic received a boost of interest and the audience grew dramatically in 2010 following a rulemaking by the U.S. Department of Education. The federal rulemaking shone a light on the need for a Title IV eligible postsecondary educational institution offering distance education to obtain authorization in states other than the one in which it is located. As conversations continued and the perceived need for reciprocity grew, organizations such as the Lumina Foundation and the Council of State Governments joined in.
In April 2013, the Commission on the Regulation of Postsecondary Distance Education issued a paper titled: Advancing Access through Regulatory Reform: Findings, Principles, and Recommendations for the State Authorization Reciprocity Agreement (SARA). The backbone of the Commission’s recommendation was a voluntary national system of interstate reciprocity with management of state participation by the four regional higher education compacts, the Southern Regional Education Board (“SREB”), the Midwestern Higher Education Compact, the New England Board of Higher Education, and the Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education.
In December of 2013, the National Council for State Authorization Reciprocity Agreements (“NC-SARA”) was established to help support national implementation of the State Authorization Reciprocity Agreements (“SARA”). At that time, each regional compact had a separate reciprocity agreement, and states began joining SARA in 2014.
On May 18, 2015, Tennessee Governor Bill Haslam signed the State Authorization Reciprocity Agreement Act. The legislation is codified at Tennessee Code Annotated Title 49, Chapter 7, Part 15. The Act allows the Tennessee Higher Education Commission to seek membership in SARA and to serve as the portal agency. On June 19, 2015, the SREB Regional Steering Committee approved Tennessee as a SARA member. Through this membership, Tennessee postsecondary education institutions approved for participation in SARA may offer distance learning programs and courses to persons located in SARA member states and out-of-state learning placements without seeking state-by-state authorization.
In December 2015, the four regional compacts and NC-SARA executed the Unified Agreement recognizing that having four agreements could be confusing and problematic to those who were not involved with SARA from the beginning. Today, the policies of SARA are codified in the SARA Policy Manual.