SARA – the State Authorization Reciprocity Agreement – is an agreement between member states, territories and districts of the United States of America. As of July 2019, 49 states (all but California), the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands have joined SARA.

Because California is not participating in SARA, students who are not physically located in California are not permitted to take distance education classes (fully online or online with required on-site meetings) at City College of San Francisco.

Federal regulation requires institutions offering distance education to acquire authorization from any U.S. state in which it “operates.” City College does not have the required permission for students from other states to take classes at City College. This permission is required to maintain eligibility for students of that state to receive Federal Financial Aid.

Until further notice, City College is not filing for authorization to operate in other states. We recommend that students outside of California seeking community college courses look for courses offered by an institution in their own state.

October 2022