State authorization is a complex subject. When your institution chooses to provide distance education to students from other states or countries, it must abide by the laws governing instruction in those locations. However, these laws vary widely and may be quite confusing at times.

Under ordinary circumstances, an institution would need to seek authorization to offer online classes with each state individually. To ease compliance issues within the United States, the National Council for State Authorization Reciprocity Agreements (NC-SARA) was formed. By joining NC-SARA, an institution is agreeing to abide by a set of accepted standards among all participating institutions whenever providing distance education in participating states.

The State Authorization Network (SAN) exists separately from NC-SARA and is meant to provide information and training to individuals who are involved in state authorization compliance efforts at their institutions. SAN seeks to keep its members informed about updates to the laws governing state authorization and provide clarification regarding some of the more confusing aspects of compliance. Additionally, it offers webinars, workshops, and other training resources to allow state authorization compliance professionals to network with others in their field and gain a deeper understanding of some of the major issues related to state authorization.

No, membership in SAN does not include membership in NC-SARA. If your institution wishes to join NC-SARA, please contact Jessica Acton at the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board (THECB) for more information. If you need her contact information, please reach out to Heather Walker with DigiTex.

Individual institutional memberships in SAN cost $4,000 apiece. If each of the 55 community colleges in Texas were to purchase its own membership, the cost would be $220,000 total!

As a consortium, DigiTex is eligible to purchase a bulk membership for its members for only $8,000. This allows us to provide you, our member colleges, with a FREE membership in SAN.

If your institution is not a member of NC-SARA, this may make state authorization compliance more challenging, but it will not exempt your institution from following the laws governing online education in other states. If your institution offers any online classes to out-of-state students, it must still abide by the laws governing online education in those students’ states of residence.

The expert contact for all questions related to state authorization for Texas institutions is Jessica Acton at the THECB. Contact Heather Walker for her information.

Jessica Acton at THECB is the first contact for any institution that wishes to join NC-SARA. Contact Heather Walker for her information.

Many of the resources on the SAN website are only available to members, so you will need our DigiTex member logon information to fully access all resources. Contact Heather Walker to receive the logon information.

Through the eNewsletter, monthly coordinator calls, webinars, and notices on the website, SAN provides regular updates to its members regarding changes to state authorization legislation. To access this information, contact Heather Walker for the DigiTex SAN membership logon information.

SAN has an excellent onboarding training for newcomers to help acquaint you with the many resources available through their website. If you are interested in participating in this training, contact Heather Walker.

There are also a wide variety of webinars and workshops available through SAN. Information about these opportunities will be disseminated through the SAN eNewsletters, to which you will have access once you are logged on to the SAN website and registered for their newsletters.