Western Technical College has been approved to participate in the National Council for State Authorization Reciprocity Agreements. SARA is an agreement among member states, districts, and territories that establishes comparable national standards for interstate offering of postsecondary distance education courses and programs. Western became a member of SARA on September 23, 2016.

SARA is governed by a national council and administered by four regional education compacts. Western is part of the Midwestern Higher Education Compact. Colleges in a SARA state only need their home state authorization to offer distance education to students in other SARA member states.

Notification of Student Rights: Western Technical College Students that are located or reside outside of Wisconsin and are enrolled in distance education at the College may file an initial SARA complaint based on the interstate nature of the offering using the College’s Feedback Form. Western will follow up on all complaints received while working to safeguard the privacy of those reporting the complaint to the extent allowable by law.

Any current or former student located or residing outside of Wisconsin currently or previously enrolled in a distance education course or program at Western may appeal a completed student complaint that has been filed with Western Technical College. The appeal may be filed with Wisconsin’s Distance Learning Authorization Board (DLAB) under specific and limited circumstances. Please note the initial complaint must have been filed and completed using Western’s internal process first.  For more information on the types of complaints handled by DLAB, and steps to be taken before filing a complaint (appeal) with DLAB, see DLAB’s student complaint process.

If you have a question about Western’s State Authorization of Distance Education, please direct your inquiry to the Compliance Coordinator via email.