Austin Community College is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC), which is recognized by the U.S. Department of Education.
The State Authorization Reciprocity Agreement (SARA) provides the nation with a statewide process to expand the opportunities for educational achievement of people by aligning standards and practices across states and creating processes to effectively address quality in online and distance education programs while reducing costs to states, institutions and consumers.
ACC became a member of NC SARA in 2017. Membership in SARA allows ACC to offer distance education courses in other SARA states without having to obtain approval from each state.
The following states are authorized members of SARA:
- Alabama
- Alaska
- Arizona
- Arkansas
- Colorado
- Connecticut
- Delaware
- District of Columbia
- Florida
- Georgia
- Hawaii
- Idaho
- Illinois
- Indiana
- Iowa
- Kansas,
- Kentucky
- Louisiana
- Maine
- Maryland
- 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
- Utah
- Vermont
- Virginia
- Washington
- West Virginia
- Wisconsin
- Wyoming
The following U.S. Territories are authorized members of SARA: U.S. Virgin Islands.
Information regarding the complaint process can be found at NC-SARA and Students.
Disclosures
No state or accrediting agency have taken adverse actions against Austin Community College.
Professional Licensure
Important information for prospective and currently enrolled students: SARA does not include provisions for state professional licensing requirements. It is highly recommended that you contact the licensing board in your state before starting an academic program. Academic programs and graduating students must satisfy standards that are established by that state’s licensing requirements to be eligible for a license.
Accreditation and State Authorization
Austin Community College is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges to award certificate, associate, and baccalaureate, degrees. Contact the Commission on Colleges at 1866 Southern Lane, Decatur, Georgia 30033-4097, or call (404) 679-4500 for questions about the accreditation of Austin Community College. The Commission is to be contacted only if there is evidence that appears to support an institution’s significant non-compliance with a requirement or standard.
State Contact Information
To ensure compliance with the U.S. Department of Education’s Integrity Rules, Austin Community College must provide out-of-state distance learning students and out-of-state prospective students with the contact information and complaint filing process for each state’s licensing board and any other agency that would be responsible for the complaint.
Distance education students who reside out-of-state must follow the institution’s standard procedure for resolution of student grievances. If a resolution is not met by following Austin Community College’s complaint process, students may file the complaint with the SARA portal agency in the institution’s home state. The state where the student resides may also resolve the complaint.
Although students may use their own state’s SARA office to resolve a complaint, the SARA office in the state where the institution is located is responsible for staffing and investigating and resolving the complaint. Students who are classified as “in state” may not use SARA to complain about distance education courses offered inside the state, only those offered outside the state.
