State Authorization and Complaint Resolution

The U.S. Department of Education requires an institution offering distance education programs or on-ground field experience components to acquire authorization from the states in which it operates. Specific regulations vary from state to state. Saint Joseph's Lancaster location is working in cooperation with the U.S. Department of Education, as well as agencies within states and territories, to comply with required authorizations, so that we can provide educational access to students across the country. Saint Joseph's in Lancaster will continue to make a good faith effort to pursue state authorization from all states and districts of the United States and its territories.

Saint Joseph's in Lancaster is authorized to provide online education to students from all State Authorization Reciprocity Agreements (SARA) member states, which currently includes those noted on the SARA-Participating Institution Directory map.

More on State Authorization

Saint Joseph's Lancaster location strives to resolve all student complaints in a fair and expedient manner. The University encourages all current, former and prospective students, regardless of their residency, to FIRST submit any grievances, complaints or concerns directly to Saint Joseph's in Lancaster. Students who decide to file a formal complaint as an academic or nonacademic grievance must follow the process detailed in the Student Grievance policy, which can be found on the Saint Joseph's Lancaster location portal. Concerns should be expressed as soon as possible after the event occurs; some of the procedures below have specific deadlines for filing grievances or complaints.

If a student feels that the issue remains unresolved after reasonable effort to follow the College’s internal grievance procedures, the student may contact these entities to file a formal complaint:

1. Pennsylvania Department of Education – Postsecondary and Adult Education; 333 Market Street, 12th Fl.; Harrisburg, PA 17126-0333; Phone: 717.783.8228, Fax: 717.722.3622, ra-collunivseminfo@pa.gov;
2. PA College’s accreditor, the Middle States Commission on Higher Education, located at 3624 Market Street, Philadelphia, PA 19104, Phone: 267.284.5000, info@msche.org;
3. Appropriate agency in their residential state (see listing below);
4. Pennsylvania’s SARA Portal Agency at PDE-SARA.

For a student who is unable to resolve a complaint via the above channels, please review NC-SARA complaint information at: http://www.nc-sara.org/content/sara-and-students.

Out-of-State Complaint Resolution Contacts

Distance students residing outside of Pennsylvania may file a formal complaint with their home state authorizing agency, ideally after exhausting internal avenues, by using the links below:

Please explore these resources to learn more about what institutions of higher education must do to meet the requirements of state and federal regulations. 

WCET is a national, member-driven, non-profit that brings together colleges and universities, higher education organizations and companies to collectively improve the quality and reach of e-learning programs;

SHEEO is an advocate for state policy leadership, as a liaison between states and the federal government, as a vehicle for learning from and collaborating with peers, and as a source of information and analysis on educational and public policy issues;

NC-SARA is a voluntary, regional approach to state oversight of distance education (on October 27, 2016, the Southern Regional Education Board (SREB) approved the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania to join SARA).