Distance Education State-by-State Summary

Regulations also vary state-by-state with respect to traditional courses that take place outside the state of Kansas (internship, externship, clerkship, practicum, rotation, clinical, independent study, study away, mentoring, advising, proctoring and the like) and may not necessarily be the same as regulations regarding online distance education outlined in the following chart.

Course and program availability varies by state. Admission into a program is granted at the time of initial acceptance into the program and is dependent on program availability in the state where the student is physically located at the time of admission. If the student moves to a different state after admission to the program, continuation in the program will depend on requirements for the program in the new state of residence. It is the student’s responsibility to notify the institution of a change in physical presence. Whether military personnel stationed outside the state of Kansas may enroll or continue in a WSU distance education program or not is based on where military personnel are stationed.

On January 14, 2015, WSU became an official member of the National Council of State Authorization Reciprocity Agreements (NC-SARA) and began participating in the State Authorization Reciprocity Agreement (SARA). A “State Authorization Reciprocity Agreement” is an agreement between two or more states that authorizes an institution located and legally authorized in a state covered by the agreement to provide postsecondary education through distance education or correspondence courses to students in other states covered by the agreement.

Courses and programs incorporating a “supervised field experience” are covered by the provisions of SARA. Under SARA a “supervised field experience” means a student learning experience under the oversight of a supervisor, mentor, faculty member or other qualified professional, located in the host state, who has a direct or indirect reporting responsibility to the institution where the student is enrolled, whether or not credit is granted. Examples include practica, student teaching, or internships. However, see below regarding programs for licensed professions.

SARA has no effect on state professional licensing requirements. Distance education programs in nursing, education, social work, counseling, allied health professions, etc., may require additional approval from separate licensing boards, depending on the state. Students that reside outside the state of Kansas who are considering a professional program should contact the appropriate Board in their state of residency prior to beginning a course of study. WSU cannot confirm whether the course or program meets the requirements for professional licensure in the student’s state of residence.

Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, US Virgin Islands, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin, and Wyoming.

Non-Participating SARA States: California.

Generally, an institution has physical presence when it operates a campus, branch instructional facility whether leased or owned, or administrative office within the boundaries of a state. However, because the specific definitions of physical presence currently vary greatly from state to state, especially with regard to out-of-state institutions that seek to conduct any activity within another state, SARA has established its own uniform standard for physical presence vs. distance education. For purposes of participation in SARA, this standard applies, but it does not affect the application of existing state laws to colleges that choose to operate outside of SARA or which are based in states that are not SARA members.

For purposes of SARA, an institution has physical presence and therefore must meet the state’s current non-SARA requirements if it does any of these things in a state: 

1. Establishes a physical location for students to receive synchronous or asynchronous instruction;
2. Requires students to physically meet in a location for instructional purposes more than twice per full-term (quarter or semester) course for a total of more than six hours;
3. Establishes an administrative office;
4. Provides information to students for the purpose of enrolling students, or provides student support services, from a physical site operated by or on behalf of the institution in the state;
5. Offers a “short course” that requires more than 20 contact hours;
6. Provides office space to instructional or non-instructional staff;
7. Maintains a mailing address or phone exchange in a state.

An institution does not have physical presence, and is therefore covered by SARA in SARA member states, if it is only:

1. Offering courses to individuals via distance education in ways that do not require students to gather physically in groups, excepting the special provisions in Section 6(1);
2. Advertising to students whether through print, billboard, direct mail, internet, radio, television or other medium;
3. Offering distance education courses on a military base if enrollment in such courses is limited to federal employees and family members;
4. Maintaining a server, router or similar electronic service device housed in a facility that otherwise would not constitute physical presence (the presence of a server or similar pass-through switching device does not by itself constitute the offering of a course or program in that state).
5. Having faculty, adjunct faculty, mentors, tutors, or other academic personnel residing in a member state (the presence of instructional faculty in a state, when those faculty teach entirely via distance-education and never meet their students in person, does not establish physical presence for purposes of this agreement);
6. Holding proctored exams on behalf of the institution in the host state;
7. Having contractual arrangements in the home or host state;
8. Offering educational field experiences for students, including an educational field trip arranged for a group of students that are normally in residence at an institution in another state;
9. Operating limited supervised field experiences. For purposes of this agreement, interstate supervised field experiences originating from campus-based programs in a member state are considered to be distance education and not to establish physical presence if they:
   1. place fewer than ten students from each program in a member state who are physically present simultaneously at a single facility or site in a host state,and
   2. do not involve any multi-year contract between a sending institution and a field site.

*On-Ground or Field Experience refers to an internship, externship, clerkship, practicum, rotation, clinical, independent study, study away, mentoring, advising, proctoring and the like. 

For states not participating in SARA, Wichita State University is required to comply with that states’ laws regarding distance education. The chart on the following pages provides a summary of each state’s requirements to offer distance education to its residents, an overview of the state’s physical presence triggers, and other relevant information for offering distance education in the state. The chart also identifies whether WSU is authorized to offer only 100% online programs to residents of the state or whether some programs may also offer a field experience component. Non-Participating SARA states are: California.

Program Directors and Program Coordinators: Please contact Wichita State Online’s State Authorization Coordinator for clarification prior to approving an on-ground or field experience or any other questions you may have

NC-SARA Member State

NC-SARA Member State

Advanced practice nursing students may participate in clinical learning experiences as long as they have a valid RN license in Arizona.

NC-SARA Member State

Worker’s Compensation Requirement – In accordance with Colorado’s Workers’ Compensation Act 2012, students participating in clinical experiences in the state of Colorado must be covered by workers’ compensation. Please contact faculty practicum Coordinator to coordinate coverage.

While WSU participates in the National Council of State Authorization Reciprocity Agreement (NC-SARA), WSU has limited authorization to offer internship, field experience, clinical placement, or practica in the state of Colorado due to the Colorado Workers’ Compensation Act (the “Act.”) The Act requires students to be covered by workers’ compensation insurance when completing an unpaid internship, field experience, clinical placement, or practica within the state of Colorado. The Act requires the institution sponsoring the student (WSU) to either: (1) insure the student through the institution’s workers’ compensation policy; or (2) work with the host site to negotiate a reasonable level of compensation to the host site for the host site’s expense of providing workers’ compensation insurance for the student. WSU is not permitted, under Kansas law, to add students to WSU’s institutional workers’ compensation policy. And while some Colorado host sites are willing to work with WSU and/or individual students to ensure coverage through the Colorado host site or through a private carrier, this is not guaranteed. The Act does not allow students to purchase their own insurance for workers’ compensation.

Students enrolled in either online or on-campus programs cannot be placed in on-ground internships, field experiences, clinical placements, or practica in the State of Colorado without the appropriate workers’ compensation in place. For questions please contact Dr. Amber Anderson or Dr. Brett Bruner.

NC-SARA Member State

Preceptors assigned to Connecticut RN students must have a BSN with a Connecticut license and at least two (2) years of experience in their chosen field.

NC-SARA Member State

The following online distance education programs may not be offered to persons residing in Louisiana:

• Nursing – MSN to DNP (Not Authorized)

NC-SARA Member State

Nursing Education: To be eligible for admission into the Doctor of Nursing Practice degree program, Maine residents who are licensed to practice in the following states must also maintain a license to practice in an additional state not on this list: Alabama, Alaska, California, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Montana, Nevada, New York, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Washington, West Virginia, Wyoming. For example, a Maine resident licensed to practice in Alaska is not eligible for program admission, per the Maine State Board of Nursing. If that same Maine resident is licensed to practice in Alaska AND also in Kansas, the eligibility criteria is met and the student may enroll.

NC-SARA Member State

The refund policy for Maryland students is as follows: Proportion of Total Course, Program, or Term completed as of Date of Withdrawal or Termination Tuition Refund: Less than 10% = 90% refund; 10% up to but not including 20% = 80% refund; 20% up to but not including 30% = 60% refund; 30% up to but not including 40% = 40% refund; 40% up to and including 60% = 20% refund; More than 61% = No refund

Online programs may be offered. Programs or courses with an “onground or field experience” component may be offered in Massachusetts.

The following online distance education programs may not be offered to persons residing in Massachusetts:

• Nursing – RN to BSN (Not Authorized)
• Nursing – MSN to DNP (Not Authorized)

NC-SARA Member State

Clinical Placements – If a nursing student is doing a clinical placement in New Jersey, the New Jersey Board of Nursing must be notified at least two (2) weeks before the clinical experience begins. Please contact the WSU State Authorization Coordinator for further details.

NC-SARA Member State

Clinical Placements in the licensed professions in New York are not covered under SARA pursuant to 5.13(a) of the SARA policies and standards. Nursing program clinical placements are not permitted in New York State.

NC-SARA Member State

Any faculty supervising/evaluating a clinical component within the state or virtually must be licensed in North Carolina. However, If the faculty member located outside the state is simply providing oversight for the course (such as reviewing clinical logs) with no clinical supervision requirements, North Carolina licensure/approval is not required, but must meet all the licensure requirements of their home state.

NC-SARA Member State

Nursing Education: In strict compliance with Oregon Board of Nursing regulations, Wichita State University is only able to admit Oregon students into its Doctor of Nursing Practice program who are willing to complete their required clinical experiences in a state other than Oregon. Should students agree to complete their clinical experiences in another state, two requirements must be met: 1) The student must be currently licensed to practice as a registered nurse in the selected clinical state; and 2) WSU must be authorized by the clinical state's Board of Nursing to offer its Doctor of Nursing Practice program.

NC-SARA Member State

The following online distance education programs may not be offered to persons residing in Rhode Island:

• Nursing – RN to BSN
• Nursing – MSN to DNP

NC-SARA Member State

Wichita State University does not imply, promise, or guarantee that credits earned at the University will transfer to other institutions, since such determinations are made according to the policies of the receiving institution. If you are considering transferring to another school, it is your responsibility to determine whether that school will accept your academic credits. You are encouraged to make this determination as early as possible.

NC-SARA Member State

The following online distance education programs may not be offered to persons residing in Tennessee:

• Nursing – RN to BSN
• Nursing – MSN to DNP

NC-SARA Member State

On-ground, field experiences, or courses involving the placement of more than ten (10) students from an individual academic program placed simultaneously at one clinical or practicum site do not require approval by the Utah Department of Commerce.

NC-SARA Member State

As long as licensure requirements are met, required internships, practicums, etc. may be completed in Virginia. Students who reside in Virginia must verify licensure requirements.

NC-SARA Member State

The following online distance education programs may not be offered to persons residing in Washington:

• Nursing – RN to BSN
• Nursing – MSN to DNP

U.S. Virgin Islands, NC-SARA Member

The following online distance education programs may not be offered to persons residing in the U.S. Virgin Islands:

• Nursing – RN to BSN
• Nursing – MSN to DNP

The following online distance education programs may not be offered to persons residing in US Territories:

• Nursing – RN to BSN
• Nursing – MSN to DNP

Additional Info for US Territories

• American Samoa – Does not regulate distance education programs.

• Guam - Because Wichita State University does not have a physical presence in Guam, WSU is not required by the Guam Council on Postsecondary Institution Certification to obtain approval from the Council to offer its programs to residents of Guam. Therefore, WSU is in compliance with Guam regulations concerning postsecondary distance education.

• Republic of Palau – Does not regulate public, out-of-state degree granting institutions.

• Puerto Rico – WSU has been recognized by the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico as an exempt higher education institution and may offer distance education academic programs to persons residing in Puerto Rico. Contact the StateAuthorization Coordinator for a list of approved programs. Programs or courses with *on-ground or field experience” components MAY NOT be offered in Puerto Rico.

Information unavilable for:

• Federated States of Micronesia
• Guam
• North Mariana Islands
• Republic of the Marshall Islands

The following online distance education programs may not be offered to persons residing in Canadian Provinces:

• Nursing – RN to BSN
• Nursing – MSN to DNP

Only 100% online programs may be offered. Any program with *on-ground or field experience components MAY NOT be offered.