Institutional Compliance is responsible for seeking authorizations or exemptions to offer degree programs via Online Education or at any Columbia College Global venue. Institutional Compliance processes a large number of external applications and reports to various regulatory agencies. Institutional Compliance also has oversight of HLC accreditation for the entire college.
Institutional Compliance works closely with Academic Affairs, Institutional Research and additional internal departments to ensure Columbia College is in compliance to operate and offer degree programs.
State Authorization Reciprocity Agreement (SARA) is a national initiative to provide more access to online courses while maintaining compliance standards with state regulatory agencies. SARA allows institutions to provide online courses outside of their own state borders by seeking and maintaining state approvals via a streamlined process.
Mid-Western Higher Education Compact State Authorization Advisory Committee
The Mid-Western Higher Education Compact (MHEC) State Authorization Advisory committee assisted in developing and implementing a reciprocal agreement among MHEC states for authorization of out-of-state providers of post-secondary education courses and programs. MHEC is one of four compacts working to create the overall National SARA initiative.