Recent acceptance into a national organization for reciprocity agreements will make opportunities for distance learning across state lines more abundant at Tusculum College.
Tusculum College has been approved to join the National Council for State Authorization Reciprocity Agreements. NC-SARA is a nationwide initiative of states that will make distance education courses more accessible to students across state lines, as well as making it easier for states to regulate and institutions to participate in interstate distance education.
The NC-SARA agreements are being implemented by the four regional higher education interstate compacts, the Midwestern Higher Education Compact, the New England Board of Higher Education, the Southern Regional Education Board and the Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education. The effort is funded by a $2.3 million grant from Lumina Foundation.
“Tusculum College is hard at work expanding our distance learning programs and being accepted into NC-SARA will make implementation of the courses much less difficult in terms of making it available for persons outside of Tennessee to participate,” said Dr. Carl Larsen, assistant to the president for institutional planning and effectiveness.
Dr. Larsen said that with Tusculum College becoming part of NC-SARA, it will increase administrative efficiency and lower the costs of obtaining authorization to provide postsecondary distance education. This will allow Tusculum College to more widely distribute academic programs and accept enrollments from students in many other states.
As a member of NC-SARA, Tusculum will be able to seek approval for distance learning programs and courses through the State of Tennessee, regardless of what state enrolled students may be located and will not need to seek approval from each state in which they would like to offer students the opportunity to enroll.