Dive Brief:
- Maine has joined the New England State Authorization Reciprocity Agreement, giving the state's higher education institutions the opportunity to share their own online courses with about 500 other schools in 36 states across the country and access theirs.
- The Bangor Daily News reports public and private colleges and universities will have to apply to the Maine Department of Education for entrance into the program, and all institutions that offer online courses are expected to do so.
- N-SARA reduces the barriers to enrollment in out-of-state online programs, offering colleges and universities a bigger market for their courses that is easier to access.
Dive Insight:
Absent SARA, colleges and universities must work with government agencies in every state in order to conduct, creating a costly, bureaucratic process with every expansion.
State authorization reciprocity agreements streamline the process for everyone involved, saving money for institutions. Colleges and universities across the country began enrolling in SARA programs in early 2014. While Maine was not one of the fastest states to join the coalition, there are more than a dozen states that have moved even more slowly.
California, Utah, Wisconsin, New York, Pennsylvania, Kentucky, North and South Carolina, Florida, and Massachusetts are among those states that still do not participate in SARA.