Students and Parents
Student Complaints
Filing a Student Complaint Against a Louisiana Institution
Role and Authority of the Louisiana Board of Regents (BoR)
The Board of Regents is the coordinating agency for all public higher education in Louisiana. The BoR is not a regulatory agency, however, and therefore has limited jurisdiction over student complaints. The BoR cannot offer legal advice to complainants and does not act as a student’s agent or attorney. Any information provided by BoR staff is not to be interpreted as legal advice or representation.
- Process for students enrolled at a Louisiana public post-secondary academic degree-granting institution:
The first step for students who wish to file a complaint against a Louisiana institution is to exhaust all of the institution’s student complaint or grievance procedures. An institution’s student complaint or grievance procedures are typically available in the academic catalog or student handbook on the institution’s website.
Once the institution’s procedures have been exhausted, if the matter remains unresolved, a complainant should contact the institution’s respective system office. To identify your institution’s system office, click here.
After making every reasonable effort to resolve the dispute directly with the institution and system office, if a solution cannot be reached, an individual may submit a written complaint to the Board of Regents. BoR staff will review the facts and facilitate in the resolution of the complaint in a manner consistent with its role as the coordinating board.
- Process for students enrolled at a Louisiana proprietary school:
In Louisiana, a proprietary school is a private, non-public business enterprise owned by one person, a partnership, a limited liability company, or a corporation that sells vocational/occupational courses of instruction, exceeding twenty (20) clock hours in length, to the general public for the purpose of training or preparing persons for gainful employment. A complete listing of the schools and their locations can be found in the Proprietary Schools Directory which is located on their webpage along with the proprietary school student complaint procedure found here.
- Process for students living outside of Louisiana enrolled via distance education at an institution participating in the State Authorization Reciprocity Agreement (SARA):
If you are a student living outside of Louisiana in a state currently participating in the State Authorization Reciprocity Agreement (SARA), and you are enrolled via distance education in a Louisiana institution that is a current member of SARA, and you are unable to resolve a complaint with the institution, you may appeal to the Louisiana Board of Regents. To find out whether or not your institution is SARA-approved and/or the state in which you reside is a SARA state, please visit the National Council for SARA website at www.nc-sara.org. To file a formal SARA complaint click here.
- Students living outside of Louisiana enrolled via distance education at an institution NOT participating in the State Authorization Reciprocity Agreement (SARA) should follow the process for students enrolled at a Louisiana public post-secondary academic degree-granting institution outlined in Section 1 above.
Please note that the complaint process at your postsecondary institution may vary depending on the type of complaint (e.g., financial aid, the institution’s accreditation, grades, student conduct, etc.) Please refer to the institution’s handbook or course catalog to identify the appropriate process and relevant official for bringing the complaint.
If you have followed your institution’s student complaint process but have been unable to resolve your complaint, you may contact the institution’s accrediting body as well as the Louisiana Attorney General’s Consumer Protection Section. The Attorney General’s Consumer Protection Section is authorized to handle commercial and trade practices in the distribution, financing, and furnishing of goods and services to or for the use of consumers.
The Consumer Protection Section of the Louisiana Attorney General:
PHONE:
225-326-6465
800-351-4889
FAX: 225-326-6499
