In October 2010, the Federal Department of Education issued “Program Integrity” regulations that require all Title IV eligible schools to obtain approval to operate in every state in which a student is located while receiving instruction. This is true for all educational programs, including distance education.

If an institution is offering postsecondary education through distance or correspondence education in a state in which it is not physically located, the institution must meet any state requirements for it to be legally offering distance or correspondence education in that state. In order to offer online educational opportunities to other states' residents, DU must comply with those states' policies for distance education and be able to demonstrate compliance upon request. Authorization and compliance is done through participation in State Authorization Reciprocity Agreements.

In 2014, the University of Denver was approved by Colorado to participate in the State Authorization Reciprocity Agreements (SARA) through the National Council for State Authorization Reciprocity Agreements (NC-SARA). NC-SARA is a voluntary, regional approach to state oversight of postsecondary distance education. Participating in SARA allows the university to offer online and distance education in all 49 states except California. As a private, non-profit university, the University of Denver is authorized to offer distance education within California outside of SARA. 

Please direct questions about state authorization to the Office of the Registrar.