I received the following correction from Carolyn Small of the Iowa College Student Aid Commission:

An Iowa school that offers distanced education programs outside the state of Iowa shared with me your organization’s “State Approval Regulations For Distance Education Starter List,” just as an FYI, because I am the state authority for registering what we call “foreign” postsecondary institutions who are offering programs to Iowans. I know that you have a website available for state regulatory authorities to make corrections to information provided in this list for that state, but I thought I would call first to see how you would like to handle correction of all information for Iowa on this list.

It looks like someone mistakenly identified the Iowa Board of Regents as the regulatory authority over distance education programs offered to Iowa residents. The website for the Iowa Board of Regents provided on your list takes you to a site that provides an overview of the distance education programs offered by Iowa’s public universities.

I’ll share some information below about Iowa’s requirements for “state authorization” and ask that you give me a call to fill in any remaining blanks (contact information below).

To the extent that a school offering courses of instruction to Iowa residents is required to be registered or licensed in this state, the authority is my agency, the Iowa College Student Aid Commission. A school that is not otherwise exempt from registration (which includes nearly all institutions that originated in Iowa) may be required to register with my agency under Iowa Code Chapter 261B if it has a presence here. That would include a school offering distance education programs to Iowa residents, again, provided the school has a presence in the state. There’s more information about “presence” below.

Depending on whether the school has a presence here and the extent to which it is directly marketing to Iowa residents, the school may also be required to file evidence of financial responsibility under Iowa’s consumer protection law, Iowa Code Section 714.18. If it is a for-profit school that offers a degree, diploma, or license, the school may also be required to establish an Iowa tuition refund policy under Iowa Code Section 714.22.

In the last 6 months, we have expanded our policy relative to schools that must register under Chapter 261B. Updated, general information about who must register, including our current definition of “presence” in the state, who must file evidence of financial responsibility, and who must establish a state tuition refund policy is on our website at
http://www.iowacollegeaid.gov/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=95&Itemid=395

The application for registering under Iowa Code Chapter 261B – or requesting a formal exemption from registration — is at
http://www.iowacollegeaid.gov/images/docs/file/PostsecondaryRegistration/CS/ch261b_reg_app_or_exempt_claim051310.pdf

The application for filing evidence of financial responsibility under Iowa Code Section 714.18 – or requesting a formal exemption – is at
http://www.iowacollegeaid.gov/images/docs/file/PostsecondaryRegistration/CS/ch714_fin_responsibility_app_exempt070709.pdf

Any school that is offering purely distance education programs to Iowa residents and has no “presence” as we now define it is not required to register with the Commission. However, any school offering distance education programs to Iowa residents is strongly encouraged to contact me directly to discuss the school’s activities and operations in Iowa in detail. Often I find that discussion produces information about an aspect of the school’s operation that constitutes “presence.”

J. Carolyn Small
Postsecondary Registration Administrator
Iowa College Student Aid Commission
Carolyn.small@iowa.gov
515 725 3413 (voice)
515 725 3401 (fax)