For Southern Illinois University Edwardsville (SIUE) to offer online courses or any educational activity to students outside the state of Illinois, the institution must seek approval from the state the student is physically located in and/or the state the activity is taking place. The state of Illinois is a member of the National Council for State Authorization Reciprocity (NC-SARA) and SIUE is an approved SARA institution. Visit NC-SARA for more information. SIUE may offer online courses and a majority of the distance education activities to students in the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, U.S. Virgin Islands and in every state except California (as indicated in blue on the map below) under the terms and provisions of NC-SARA.

SIUE can offer online courses to residents of California as an out-of-state public institution, because the state of California does require approval. Learn more about California’s Postsecondary Education Commission and Regulations.

SIUE has staff dedicated to monitoring compliance in the dynamic arena of distance education and communicating any changes to students. Please check this site for any updates.

It is also very important for students to inform the University if they are physically located outside the State of Illinois during the term/session/semester in which they are enrolled, or if they move across state lines during a term/session/semester in which they are enrolled. Students can contact the Federal, State and Licensure Compliance Manager to report any changes. This will allow our staff to continually monitor any authorization and/or licensure/certification issues in the state the student is physically present and to properly disclose any pertinent information that may apply to the student, their education and/or their career choices. Learn more about state specific licensure requirements.

Failure to comply with the regulations and guidelines related to distance education and communicate valuable information to the University could include consequences such as ineligibility for title IV and HEA funds and may impact the student’s application for licensure/certification.

For further information, please contact: SIUE Federal, State, and Licensure Compliance at the Office of Online Services and Educational Outreach or at licensure@siue.edu.