School Licensure and Registration
The Office of Higher Education provides consumer protection for students and prospective students. Minnesota state law requires private and out-of-state public postsecondary institutions operating in Minnesota are required to register with OHE (Minn. Stat. 136A.61 - 136A.81), while private career schools must apply for license (Minn. Stat. 136A.82 - 136A.834).
Degree-Granting Institutional Registration is required by Minnesota law if you are a private college or university or an out-of-state public postsecondary educational institution that offers postsecondary degree programs to Minnesota residents. This includes any:
- Institutions located in Minnesota that seek to offer distance education degree programs to non-Minnesota residents.
- Institutions located in Minnesota that seek to offer degree programs to Minnesota residents.
- Institutions located outside of Minnesota that seek to offer distance education programs to Minnesota residents.
Private and out-of-state public institutions should review the standards and application procedures to determine their legal obligations before advertising or offering postsecondary education in Minnesota. (See Minnesota Degree Standards in the Additional Information section below.)
If you are a private school or training firm that offers occupational programs below the associate degree level in Minnesota, you must be licensed by the Office of Higher Education unless you meet an exemption under Minnesota Statute 136A.833. This includes out-of-state institutions that seek to send students to Minnesota for an internship, externship, clinical placement, or field experience do not need to seek approval from our office.
Licensure requires institutions have:
- Certificates or diplomas that meet state standards.
- Student records that are protected and accessible to former students.
- A statutory refund policy.
- Financial resources sufficient to meet the school's financial obligations.
- Appropriate faculty.
- Sound institutional policies and practices.
- Accurate and useful information about programs, tuition and fees, admissions, evaluation, dismissal and refunds for students.
Note: A number of out-of-state institutions offering online/distance education programs to Minnesota residents are doing so through the State Authorization Reciprocity Agreement (SARA), which Minnesota participates in. These institutions are not required to have approval from our office and may not meet the above requirements. A list of states participating in SARA and institutions in those states authorized to offer online/distance education programs to Minnesota residents is posted on the SARA website.
1) New and renewing institutions that fall under the jurisdiction of the Minnesota Private and Out-Of-State Public Postsecondary Education Act (Registration) Minn. Stat. 136A.61 - 136A.81.
2) Institutions seeking an exemption from OHE's regulation of registration statutes.
Institutions should complete the following documents in the portal:
- Initial Inquiry document (For first-time users)
- Initial Application document (which will be made available after the Initial Inquiry has been approved by our office)
- New Location document
- New Program documents for each proposed degree program
The following online systems are available for institutions to make payments.
Institutional Payments
For institutions needing to make a payment, OHE now offers an online option via ACH.
SARA State Fee Payment
For schools participating in the State Authorization Reciprocity Agreement (SARA), you can submit your fee payment online.
If you are a private school or training firm that offers occupational programs below the associate degree level in Minnesota, you must be licensed by the Office of Higher Education unless you meet an exemption under Minnesota Statute 136A.833. Please contact Kate McCartan at kate.mccartan@state.mn.us to request the exemption application.
Licensure requires institutions have:
- certificates or diplomas that meet state standards
- student records that are protected and accessible to former students
- a statutory refund policy
- financial resources sufficient to meet the school's financial obligations
- appropriate faculty
- accurate and useful information about programs, tuition and fees, admissions, evaluation, dismissal and refunds for students
Rules and Statutes
You must review the statutes and rules to determine whether your institution is regulated under Minnesota Statute 136A.82 to 136A.834.
How to Apply for Licensure
The Application Packets contain instructions for submitting information to obtain a license:
Degree-Granting Institutional Registration is required if you are a private college or university or an out-of-state public postsecondary educational institution that offers postsecondary degree programs to Minnesota residents. This includes any:
- Institutions located in Minnesota that seek to offer distance education degree programs to non-Minnesota residents
- Institutions located in Minnesota that seek to offer degree programs to Minnesota residents
- Institutions located outside of Minnesota that seek to offer distance education programs to Minnesota residents*
- Businesses that offer career training must have approval to use "academy", "college", "institute", or "university" in your name.
Out-of-state institutions that seek to send students to Minnesota for an internship, externship, clinical placement, or field experience do not need to seek approval from our office.
Degree-Granting Institutional Registration requires institutions to have:
- academic degrees meet state standards
- financial resources sufficient to meet the school's financial obligations
- appropriate faculty
- sound institutional policies and practices
- accurate and useful information about programs, tuition and fees, admissions, evaluation, dismissal, and refunds for students
- a plan for preservation of student records
* Note: A number of out-of-state institutions offering online/distance education programs to Minnesota residents are doing so through the State Authorization Reciprocity Agreement (SARA), which Minnesota participates in. These institutions are not required to have approval from our office and may not meet the above requirements. A list of states participating in SARA and institutions in those states authorized to offer online/distance education programs to Minnesota residents is posted on the SARA website.
Rules and Statutes:
All licensing and registration requirements are determined by state law.
Minnesota has standards for both associate and baccalaureate degrees. These standards apply to institutions that are linscensed and registered with the state as degree-granting institutions.
Licensing
If you are applying for licensure, please use OHE's Licensing Checklist as you prepare to submit your materials.
Registration Video Tutorials
The following videos will help you manage your account in the Licensing and Registration portal.