Each year, institutions participating in SARA must pay a participation fee to NC-SARA.
The annual participation fee is based on an institution's total full-time equivalent (FTE) enrollment as submitted to the U.S. Department of Education’s Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) each fall as 12-month FTE enrollment. Institutions that do not report to IPEDS use IPEDS’ methodology.
NC-SARA invoices each participating institution after the institution is approved for participation by its own state’s SARA State Portal Entity.
Payment for continued participation is due prior to the institution’s annual anniversary of the institution’s initial SARA participation date as part of the renewal process.
The NC-SARA fee will be assessed as follows (effective July 1, 2024):
| Enrolled FTE | Annual Fee – |
| Less than 2,500 | $2,200 |
| 2,500-9,999 | $4,400 |
| 10,000-29,999 | $6,600 |
| 30,000 or more | $8,800 |
State Fees
To cover the in-state costs of administering SARA, many SARA states charge their participating institutions a separate state fee. View a chart of established state fees below.
View Chart of Established State Fees for In-State Institutions