The University of Saint Francis announces that the university was recently approved by the Indiana Commission for Higher Education to operate under the National Council for State Authorization Reciprocity Agreements (NC-SARA).

The State Authorization Reciprocity Agreement (SARA) is an agreement among member states, districts and territories that establishes comparable national standards for interstate offering of postsecondary distance education courses and programs. The goal of this approach is to make it easier for students to take online courses offered by postsecondary institutions based in another state.

States and institutions that choose to become members of SARA operate under a set of policies and standards that assure high-quality distance education practices at each member institution. These quality practices are overseen by a National Council and administered by four regional education compacts, the Midwestern Higher Education Compact, the New England Board of Higher Education, the Southern Regional Education Board and the Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education. SARA membership was made available in January 2014, and as of August 2016, 41 states are SARA members.

The benefits to students residing in SARA states are immediate. All students living in SARA states can now access all of USF’s online programs. Current USF students will have expanded opportunities for experiential learning sites across all SARA states.

“We are beyond thrilled to receive this approval,” said USF Vice President of Academic Affairs Dr. Andrew Prall. “This adds a new dimension to the opportunities our online student body can take advantage of at USF.”

For more information about SARA and the progress of state and institutional membership, please visit http://nc-sara.org/sara-states-institutions.