The Department of Education (ED), in a July 3 Federal Register, announced the implementation of state authorization rules on distance education — originally set to take effect July 1, 2018, as determined by a lengthy negotiated rulemaking process under the Obama administration — will now be delayed until 2020.

Campus leadership should bear in mind that regardless of federal rules on state authorization, colleges are still required to comply with any state regulations on the books, in order to be compliant with that state. The WICHE Cooperative for Educational Technologies (WCET)'s recent blog post, "The Announcement of the Delay was Delayed, but the Result is a Delay!" offers more in-depth guidance on ED's announcement and its implications.

Remember also that federal laws on notifications still apply, the Department of Defense (DoD) Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) includes an authorization requirement for tuition assistance granted to military personnel, and State Authorization Reciprocity Agreement (SARA) members are still responsible for meeting SARA requirements.

The authorization of foreign and branch location rules were also not included in the delay. For more detailed analysis, refer to WCET's blog post on Authorization of Foreign Locations.

The decision to delay implementing the rules was met with wide-ranging opposition and little support, according to comments from the public submitted in the weeks following the announcement. Check out our June 15 Today's News coverage for more on that.

Publication Date: 7/12/2018

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