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State Authorization Reciprocity Agreement (SARA)

SARA is a voluntary, regional initiative that provides postsecondary institutions a streamlined approach for offering distance education to students outside the institution’s home state. Our participation in SARA allows us to offer distance education to students in all SARA member states without obtaining individual approval from each state.

Based on our participation in SARA and the status of current state and federal regulations, the University of Northern Colorado can provide postsecondary distance education in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. We are not currently authorized to offer distance education in American Samoa, Guam, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, the Republic of the Marshall Islands, the Federated States of Micronesia, and the Republic of Palau. We are continuing to monitor requirements in these territories and freely associated states and are attempting to seek clarifications from government agencies where possible.

Please note that some distance education activities may have additional state requirements that fall outside of SARA participation. This most commonly occurs for learning placement activities in licensed professions, such as internships, healthcare clinicals, and student teaching experiences. We are continuously investigating these requirements and are listing activities that may have additional state requirements below.

SARA Seal

University of Northern Colorado participates in the State Authorization Reciprocity Agreements.

  • Nursing

    State boards of nursing may have additional approval requirements for out-of-state programs that want to provide online course instruction and/or clinical learning placements in their state. These requirements may apply to both pre-licensure and post-licensure nursing programs. We are listing these states here as we continue to research and secure required approvals.

    If your state is listed as having additional requirements or you intend to complete a clinical placement in a state other than Colorado, please contact the School of Nursing for additional information.

    States with Additional Requirements:
    Alabama
    Alaska
    Arizona
    California
    Connecticut
    Delaware
    District of Columbia
    Illinois
    Louisiana
    Maryland
    Massachusetts
    Montana
    Nebraska
    Nevada
    New York
    New Hampshire
    North Carolina
    North Dakota
    Oklahoma
    Oregon
    South Carolina
    Tennessee
    Texas
    Utah
    Washington
    West Virginia
    Wisconsin
    Wyoming

  • Student Teaching

    State boards of education may have additional requirements for students that conduct student teaching in their state. We are listing these states here as we continue to research any state-specific requirements.

    If your state is listed below, or you intend on pursuing licensure or conducting a student teaching experience in a state other than Colorado, please contact Dr. Charles Warren, University Licensure Officer, in the Office of Professional Licensure at Charles.Warren@unco.edu.

    States with Additional Requirements:
    Georgia
    Hawaii

For information on professional licensure, visit our licensure website.

For any questions related to information on these pages or UNC’s participation in SARA, please contact Jake Henderson, State Authorization and Accreditation Compliance Specialist, at jake.henderson@unco.edu or 970-351-4678.