In Iowa, the process by which a school seeks the State’s explicit authorization to operate in Iowa or offer programs to Iowans is called Registration.
Under Iowa Code Chapter 261B, Sections 261B.2 and 261B.3, a school that offers postsecondary degree programs must register with Iowa College Aid to operate in Iowa or offer distance education programs to Iowans if:
A school compensates a person to conduct any portion of a program in Iowa, including through distance education or correspondence study; or
The school otherwise has a presence in Iowa:
Presence means an address, location, telephone number, or internet protocol address in Iowa from which a school conducts any aspects of its operations regardless of the instructional modality or whether the school enrolls Iowans in its programs.
For a distance education provider, presence also means a location in Iowa at which a student participates in a structured field experience that is a required component of the school’s otherwise distance education program.
Note: A degree granting school that is NOT accredited by a federally recognized accreditor is prohibited from operating in Iowa, or conducting any portion of its programs in Iowa or to Iowans via in-person instruction or via distance education to Iowans. A single exception exists for a degree-granting school of religious study that meets the limited conditions for Exception from Registrationunder Iowa Code Section 261B.11(1)(h).
School Activities that Trigger Registration
Below you will find examples of programmatic and operational activities relating to both residential and distance education programs that require a school to register with Iowa College Aid under Iowa Code 261B. School activities that trigger registration in Iowa vary depending upon whether the school is approved by its home state to participate in the State Authorization Reciprocity Agreement (SARA). This is not an all-inclusive list of school activities that necessitate registration in Iowa.
List items for School Activities that Trigger Registration
Any of a school's distance education programs include a component, which is required for program completion, that the school permits an Iowan to complete at a location in Iowa; for example, a clinical, practicum, internship, externship or lab.
A school compensates any individual or entity to educate Iowans about its distance education programs or recruit students for these programs at a location in Iowa, regardless of whether the individual or entity is based in Iowa.
A school houses the technological equipment (e.g., servers) the school uses to facilitate delivery of its distance education programs at a location in Iowa.
A school whose parent company owns an entity located in Iowa that promotes or shares information about the school’s distance education programs.
A school compensates an Iowa resident to provide instruction in any of the school's distance education courses remotely from the instructor's Iowa home.
A school compensates an Iowa resident to remotely conduct administrative activities in support of its distance education programs from the Iowa resident's home.
Sara participating institutions may conduct distance education activity covered under SARA in Iowa without regulation by Iowa College Aid, provided the institution strictly adheres to SARA’s policies limiting presence in Iowa. For additional information please refer to the current SARA manual on the NC-SARA website.
For a residential program offered on a school’s campus that is not located in Iowa:
Occasional, short-term activities conducted at a location in Iowa for the purpose of recruiting students for the school’s residential programs.
A residency, practicum, internship, clinical, or similar field experience that the out-of-state school permits the student to participate in at a location in Iowa, provided that the person who instructs or supervises students at the Iowa location is not compensated by the out-of-state school.
Distance education programs that are offered in “hybrid” format, a distance education program that requires a student to participate in any activity at the school’s out-of-state campus.
Schools that offer only individual distance education courses; for example, a school that offers their campus-based students the option to complete some residential courses in an online format.
Proctored examinations.
Distance education course activities that require a student to access an Iowa employer but involve no structured interaction between the school and the employer or the employer’s personnel (e.g., for data collection and reporting or observation/shadowing).
A school that applies for initial registration in Iowa must remit to Iowa College Aid an initial, one-time, nonrefundable registration application fee in the amount of $5,000. Once a school is approved for registration in Iowa, the school must remit an annual fee payable to Iowa College Aid that is due by October 15 of each year. The annual fee is nonrefundable and will be assessed based on a school’s fall full-time equivalent (FTE) enrollment, as reported to the U.S. Department of Education’s Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS), as follows:
Under 2,500 FTE – $2,000
2,500 to 9,999 FTE – $4,000
10,000 FTE or more – $6,000
Note: Iowa College Aid does not charge separate fees based on the number or types of programs the school wishes to offer under its registration.
