Student Complaint Process

Elizabethtown College participates in Federal student aid programs that are authorized under Title IV of the Higher Education Act of 1965. A participating institution, Elizabethtown College is legally authorized to operate within the state of Pennsylvania. Title 34 CFR §600.9 requires States to have a “process to review and appropriately act on complaints concerning the institution including enforcing applicable State laws.” Title 34 CFR §668.43(b) requires that institutions:

“Make available for review to any enrolled or prospective student upon request, a copy of the documents describing the institution’s accreditation and its State, Federal, or tribal approval or licensing.
Provide its students or prospective students with contact information for filing complaints with its accreditor and with its state approval or licensing entity and any other relevant State official or agency that would appropriately handle a student’s complaint.”

To comply with this regulation, Elizabethtown provides the following information to our students.

Elizabethtown College makes every effort to resolve student complaints internally, using policies and procedures outlined in the current Student Handbook , and the Online Catalog . The institutional complaint process for distance learning students is the same for all students regardless of physical location. It is expected that students will fully utilize such administrative procedures to address concerns and/or complaints in as timely a manner as possible. For concerns or complaints not addressed or unresolved in the catalog, please contact Academic Affairs (academicaffairs@etown.edu).

If the complaint cannot be resolved at any level within the College, the student may contact one of the following agencies:

Students residing in Pennsylvania : In the unlikely event that an issue cannot be resolved through the institutional complaint process, students residing in Pennsylvania should contact the Pennsylvania Department of Education (PDE), the applicable agency for oversight in resolving complaints.
Students residing outside of Pennsylvania : Student Complaint Information by State and Agency

Elizabethtown College is approved to participate in the State Authorization Reciprocity Agreement (SARA) which regulates the way participating institutions may offer distance learning education to students who reside in other States. If a student has a complaint that involves distance learning education offered under the terms and conditions of SARA, the student must file a complaint with the institution first to seek resolution. Complaints regarding student grades or student conduct violations are governed entirely by institutional policy and the laws of the SARA institution’s home State. If a person bringing a complaint is not satisfied with the outcome of the internal process for resolving complaints, the complaint (except for complaints about grades or student conduct violations) may be appealed, within two years of the incident about which the complaint is made, to the home state's SARA portal entity. For purposes of this process, a complaint shall be defined as a formal assertion in writing that the terms of this agreement, or of laws, standards or regulations incorporated by the SARA Policies and Standards have been violated by the institution operating under the terms of SARA.

For a list of SARA member States, please visit the NC-SARA website. Students residing in non-SARA States should consult the list of non-SARA State agencies for further instruction for filing a complaint in their respective State of residence.

Further information on SARA and the SARA complaint process:

- SARA for Students (https://www.nc-sara.org/sara-students)
- Student Complaints (https://www.nc-sara.org/student-complaints)
Unresolved complaints may be filed with the Middle States Commission on Higher Education , the College’s regional accrediting agency once all other avenues provided by the College and the State agency or SARA have been exhausted.

Middle States Commission on Higher Education
3624 Market Street, 2nd Floor West, Philadelphia, PA 19104
Telephone: (267) 284–5000
E-mail: info@msche.org Spanish: españolinfo@msche.org
General Link: www.msche.org

Students can review documents of accreditation by contacting the Registration and Records Office at 717-361-1409. Students wishing to file a formal complaint against an institution of higher education in Pennsylvania can visit Middle States Commission on Higher Educations Complaint page for more information.