States serve as the central authority in higher education oversight, playing a critical role in consumer protection and quality assurance within the regulatory triad and as an independent regulatory entity. However, there is a notable gap in understanding the components of renewal processes, how agencies implement them in practice, and the…

Student outcome data is essential for decision-making in higher education, informing choices at the student, institutional, and state levels. Within state authorization--the gatekeeping process for institutional entry, continued operation, and closure--these data support oversight, accountability, and consumer transparency. This brief summarizes…

State regulators are the central authority in higher-education oversight, charged with ensuring consumer protection and quality assurance within the regulatory triad. Yet gaps remain in the understanding of regulatory renewal processes, their real-world implementation, and the capacity challenges these agencies face. To address this, State Higher…

In a joint fact sheet, The Institute for College Access & Success (TICAS) and National Student Legal Defense Network (Student Defense) partnered to provide key facts about the National Council for State Authorization Reciprocity Agreements (NC-SARA) and how it can undermine student protections.

Background: The higher education institutions will achieve autonomy traversing the path of graded accreditation. The autonomy of higher education is linked with the quality of education and accreditation. Higher education institutions will not only achieve autonomy but will sustain it in ever-changing external and internal environments. Purpose:…

This report is the third in a three-part series examining how institutions of higher education have responded to state and federal policies limiting the use of transcript holds for unpaid balances. Ithaka S+R partnered with the American Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers (AACRAO) to field the 2024 Transcript Hold…

The Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency (TEQSA) is responsible for the regulation and quality assurance of all providers offering higher education courses. TEQSA's annual report and annual performance statements have been prepared in accordance with the following requirements: (1) Subsection 46(1) of the Public Governance, Performance…

Accreditation is one of the three tickets that every college in America must punch if it wants access to federal student aid (FSA) programs for its students. The current regulatory regime for postsecondary institutions forces each college wanting to participate in FSA programs to get authorization from the state in which it operates, meet the…

Existing scholarship tends to understand university governance structurally (emphasizing formal authority and resource environments), culturally (focusing on history, norms, and leadership), or by combining both approaches (Kezar & Eckel, 2004). These models understand governance in instrumental terms, as the means for steering the university.…

State governments serve an important quality assurance role by certifying that postsecondary institutions are legitimate entities with the capacity to offer valid credentials to students. In recent years, precipitous and high-profile campus closures, predatory and manipulative student recruitment tactics, rising student loan debt burdens, and…

This article examines how the concept of freedom has been appropriated by the far right to impose a number of authoritarian policies designed to dismantle the critical functions of public and higher education. It explores, in particular, the ways in which Florida Republican Governor Ron DeSantis has used an appeal to freedom to punish critics,…

When it comes to the implementation of diverse, equitable, and inclusive (DEI) behaviors, institutions of higher education are misaligned in their understanding and operation of what the work entails. In an effort to emphasize diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) in the larger Organizational Development process (OD), many institutions of higher…

The foundational function of the state is the approval of an entity to establish itself as a postsecondary institution. Most often referred to as state authorization, it is the first formal act in the legal operation of an institution and often serves as the foundation upon which other quality assurance functions are built (like accreditation).…

The State Authorization Reciprocity Agreement initiative was launched in 2014 to provide a uniform standard for the regulation of distance education across states in the United States. The system established by the National Council for State Authorization Reciprocity Agreement (NC-SARA) allows willing post-secondary institutions to participate…

A qualitative study of twelve student conduct administrators sought to capture their lived experiences relative to the impacts of federal and state regulation, case law, the media, attorney encroachment, parental involvement, and the use of litigation to supersede traditional processes on their professional work and personal lives. The interviews…