NC-SARA Student Complaint Process

Under National Council for State Authorization Reciprocity Agreements (NC-SARA) rules, students have the right to lodge a complaint or grievance if their experience in an online program is not what they anticipate.

The New School wants to ensure that all student complaints are addressed fairly and resolved promptly. All student complaints must be filed initially with Samantha Dilling, The New School’s SARA principal contact, at dillings@newschool.edu.

If a resolution to a student's complaint is not reached, they can make an appeal. Information about making an appeal can be found on NYSED's website.

Here is an overview of how SARA affects out-of-state distance education students with respect to consumer protection complaints:

Only those complaints resulting from distance education courses, activities, and operations provided by SARA-participating institutions to students in other SARA states are covered by SARA. Complaints about a SARA institution’s in-state operations are to be resolved under the state’s normal provisions, not those of SARA. SARA policies do not cover complaints related to grades or student conduct violations. A student may appeal the institution decision to the SARA State Portal Entity in New York State within two years of the incident about which the complaint is made. Our State Portal Entity Contact's information is available on the SARA website.

For more information, please see the SARA Student Complaint Process.

You can access the New York State Education Department’s complaint procedures online.