U.S. Wants to Let States Enforce Their Own Regulations for Online Education
Katherine Knott
March 4, 2024
As the Biden administration eyes regulatory changes aimed at improving consumer protections for students, institutions worry about unintended consequences.
A proposal from the Biden administration could reshape how states oversee online education. Supporters say it’ll provide much-needed consumer protections, while colleges and universities worry that it could limit access to online classes for students who need them the most.
The administration wants to allow states to enforce all their applicable laws and regulations on online colleges, regardless of whether the institution is part of a state authorization reciprocity agreement to provide distance education. Currently, reciprocity agreements allow colleges to enroll out-of-state students online while bypassing some laws in the states where the students are located. For example, an institution headquartered in Colorado has to adhere to Colorado laws—but it can enroll students in New York without having to get that state’s permission or follow most of its regulations.
Online educators say the current reciprocity agreements, which cover more than 2,200 institutions and more than 1.5 million students, would become unworkable if the administration’s proposals become policy. They say smaller institutions—as opposed to mega-institutions like Southern New Hampshire University, with its nearly 149,000 online out-of-state students—would be hurt the most if reciprocity was upended, as they lack the resources to go state by state to seek authorization and comply with the different sets of laws. That, they say, would mean less access to online programs for students.
