What, exactly, is SARA and why should we care?

It's a reciprocity agreement among all of the US states except California that an institution of higher education that is licensed in one is deemed to be acceptable in all the others.

Without it, big schools would have the wherewithal to go through licensing processes in all 50 states so their online programs could have national reach, while most of the competitors would evaporate or else be regional.

We should care a lot. I'm unsure why the principle of comity doesn't apply to IHE licensure in a way that maximizes opportunity for online students, but apparently it doesn't and this was the workaround.

 

Unlikely. It doesn't mean that the school cannot also get approved by California, just that there are two processes to cover the US rather than 56.

 

That your Taft degree is unacceptable in California, just because Taft participates in SARA.