State Authorization and Distance Education

Office of the Provost

State authorization

Federal regulations require schools providing distance education to students residing outside of the institution's home state to seek state authorization with the states from which they enroll students or participate in a state authorization reciprocity agreement. Currently Hamline participates in the National Council for State Authorization Reciprocity Agreements (NC-SARA). This allows Hamline to enroll students from most states. Currently California* is the only state that has not joined NC-SARA.

View an interactive map of participating SARA Institutions.

*Students residing in California are eligible to enroll in fully-online curricula, but there are different conditions for each state that may restrict eligibility for certain sorts of additional instructional experiences (such as clinical or internships) in a few of our programs. Please contact an admission counselor for specific guidance about your eligibility to enroll as a resident from this state in an online program.

International distance education

General disclaimer: MA in TESOL

For students living abroad and international students interested in enrolling in Hamline’s Master of Arts in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages:

A country may or may not regulate distance education provided to students in its jurisdiction and may or may not require foreign higher education institutions to comply with distance education regulations. At this time, Hamline University cannot guarantee that a program meets curriculum requirements in your country. It is crucial that you contact your country's education department and appropriate professional licensing bodies before enrolling in Hamline University Online Programs in order to determine whether an online degree from Hamline University is right for you. While we carefully track issues related to international authorization and licensure, it is the student’s responsibility to understand the requirements for whether an online degree will be recognized in the student’s country of residence and/or any country in which the student intends to work; how the collection of student data may be used in that country; and whether there are any tax implications in addition to the price of tuition.

Excluded countries

Hamline University complies with the Office of Foreign Assets Control restrictions related to taking online courses abroad. The current list includes Crimea - region of Ukraine, Russia, Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Venezuela, Sudan, and Syria. For current information related to the list of countries, please see U.S. Department of Treasury Office of Foreign Assets Control.

Because of stringent privacy laws, at this point in time Hamline University does not enroll students from the European Union countries.

Licensure requirements

For more information regarding professional licensure, please see our Professional Licensure Disclosures page. 

Questions, concerns, complaints?

Hamline University is committed to providing outstanding online education. If you have a question, concern, or complaint about your online education experience at Hamline, we encourage you to speak to your program administrator. Hamline's grievance procedures for students can be found on our Policies page. If you still have an issue, please contact the provost at provost@hamline.edu.

If the issue cannot be resolved internally, students residing in a NC-SARA state, pursuant to the SARA Complaint Process, may contact the Minnesota Office of Higher Education:
Kate McCartan
Minnesota Office of Higher Education
1450 Energy Park Drive, Suite 350
Saint Paul, MN 55108
651-259-3965
kate.mccartan@state.mn.us

For students residing in California, complaints can be made at:
Bureau for Private Postsecondary Education
2535 Capitol Oaks Drive, Suite 400
Sacramento, CA 95833
phone: 916-431-6959
Filing a Complaint

You may also report any complaints to Hamline University’s accrediting agency, the Higher Learning Commission (inquiry@hlcommission.org).

Contact information