Distance Learning Out of State Authority

On October 29, 2010, the federal government published final rules under the "Program Integrity" strand of the most recent round of negotiated rule making. Under the rules, universities and colleges that participate in Title IV funding and operate in multiple states via distance learning must comply with whatever "authorization to operate" regulations are in place in those states where the institution has enrolled students or is otherwise active based on state definitions. On July 12, 2011, the District Court of the District of Columbia vacated the requirement for state authorization from the federal rule. However, the state regulations remain.

SUNY System Administration has requested an exemption from authorization from each state. Based on the responses we have received, campuses may need to notify students studying in particular states that they cannot register for distance education courses, or seek individual authorization from those states. Information on the responses we have received can be access at http://www.suny.edu/provost/dlo/responses.cfm. We are continuing to contact those states that have not yet responded to our request and the response chart will be updated as needed.

Complaint Resolution

SUNY students should attempt to resolve complaints with the SUNY school itself. The Student Handbook usually describes the appropriate procedures. However, the U.S. Department of Education regulations require each State to have a process to handle complaints for all institutions in the State, except Federally run institutions (including the service academies) and tribal institutions such as tribally controlled community colleges. For purposes of HEA eligibility under these regulations, the State remains responsible for responding to complaints about institutions in the State regardless of what body or entity actually manages complaints.

Institutions delivering courses by distance education are required to provide students or prospective students with contact information for filing complaints with the State approval or licensing entity in the student’s state of residency and any other relevant State official or agency that would appropriately handle a student's complaint. The State Contact Information in the linked list has been collected by the State Higher Education Executive Officers (SHEEO), and it will be updated as additional information becomes available. SHEEO provides further resources relating to state authorization of distance education at http://www.sheeo.org/stateauth/stateauth-home.htm. Each SUNY campus delivering distance education in other states may use the linked SHEEO list of State Complaint Information and should acknowledge SHEEO for this document, at http://www.sheeo.org/stateauth/Complaint%20Process%20Links_October%202011.pdf.