Student Location Policy

Wartburg College Student Location Policy

This policy is in accordance with federal code amendment 34 CFR–PART §600.9(c)(2)(ii), effective as of July 1, 2020, and the National Council for State Authorization Reciprocity Agreement (NC-SARA) rules listed in the NC-SARA Manual. The location of each student for the purpose of providing accurate professional licensure disclosure is determined to be located in the state of Iowa if any of the following are true:

1. The student is living in campus housing offered through the Office of Residence Life in their first term of enrollment in their program. This includes admitted students with an active housing application on file for their first term of enrollment.
2. The student is enrolled in a campus-based program in which on-campus coursework is required in the initial semester.
3. The student has a “Local Address” in the student information system that is located in the state of Iowa at the time of registration in their initial semester of enrollment in their program.

If none of the above criteria are true, the student’s location will be determined by the state or territory listed on their “Local Address” in the student information system at the point of initial enrollment in their program. The point of initial enrollment is defined as the first day of the first semester session in which a student is registered for coursework in their program.

It is the student’s responsibility to inform the college if their location has changed during their enrollment for any reason. All students participating in activities outside of Iowa must notify the college of their change of location.

This policy applies to students in all modalities, including but not limited to, students who are enrolled in the following:

• remote courses, including those taught in Wartburg’s summer program
• face-to-face courses
• out-of-state learning placements including but not limited to clinical rotations, internships, community services, fellowships, undergraduate research, or student teaching
• International Study

Definitions

• National Council for State Authorization Reciprocity Agreement: SARA is an agreement among member states, districts and territories that establishes comparable national standards for interstate offer of postsecondary distance education. When states join SARA, they agree to follow uniform processes for approving their eligible institutions’ participation.  They also agree to deal with other states’ SARA institutions in a common way when those institutions carry out activities in SARA states other than their own. SARA’s policies help protect students and provide benefits to both states and institutions carrying out distance education in multiple states.  As of July 2019, 49 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands are members of SARA.  About 1,993 colleges and universities are SARA members.
• State of Residence: The state in which the student has legal residence.
• Location: Address where a student lives while taking classes in the upcoming term. It is the place a student can be found or is most likely to sleep at night.
• Time of Enrollment: The student’s time of initial enrollment into any Wartburg College program and not the time of the student’s initial application to the institution.

State Authorizations & Licenses
Wartburg College has been approved by the State of Iowa to participate in the National Council for State Authorization Reciprocity Agreements (NC-SARA). NC-SARA is a voluntary, regional approach to state oversight of postsecondary distance education. As a member of NC-SARA, Wartburg College may provide distance learning coursework (both online and in the form of supervised field experiences) to residents of states other than Iowa. NC-SARA membership, however, does not grant reciprocity or exempt us from state professional licensing requirements. As a result, licensing requirements in Iowa may not be recognized as sufficient to obtain a license in any other state. To determine requirements, see the professional licensure disclosure information.

This agreement allows students from 49 participating states to file complaints with the State of Iowa where Wartburg is based, rather than their own state of residence. More information may be found here.The only state that does not participate in SARA is California.