Complaints about the Delivery of Distance Education
Reauthorization of the Higher Education Act includes regulations regarding the delivery of distance education to out-of-state residents. The United States Department of Education (USDOE) requires that institutions comply with any applicable state approval or licensure requirements in each state to which distance education instruction is delivered.
Students may reference the NC-SARA website to verify that Heritage Bible College is authorized to offer distance learning courses in their state. Registration of students from states not included in NC-SARA may require additional time and information so please allow additional time for this process.
Students have the right to file a complaint against an institution when regulations regarding the delivery of distance education are not followed or regarding the loss of tuition and fees as a result of unfair business practices. Institutions must provide both current and prospective students with contact information for filing complaints with its accrediting body and the appropriate state agency for handling complaints in a student’s resident state.
Students residing outside of the State of North Carolina while taking online courses from Heritage Bible College who desire to resolve an academic grievance or complaint should first follow Heritage Bible College’s Student Complaint Process (see "HBC Complaint Process"), or contact:
Rev. Randy Barker, President
Heritage Bible College
P.O. Box 1628
Dunn, NC 28335
910-892-3178, ext. 221
rbarker@heritagebiblecollege.edu
If a complaint cannot be resolved through the institution's complaint process, students may file a complaint with
The North Carolina Post-Secondary Education Complaints unit. Please review the NC Post-Secondary Education Complaint Policy (PDF), print and complete the NC Post-Secondary Education Complaint Form (PDF) and submit the complaint to:
North Carolina Post-Secondary Education Complaints
c/o Student Complaints
University of North Carolina System Office
910 Raleigh Road, Chapel Hill, NC 27515-2688
Website: North Carolina Post-Secondary Education Complaints
For more information, send an email to: studentcomplaint@northcarolina.edu.
If for some reason the complaint is not satisfactorily resolved, the next step would be to file a complaint with Heritage Bible College’s accrediting agency.
Transnational Association of Christian Schools and Colleges (TRACS)
15935 Forest Road
Forest, VA 24551
(434) 525-9539
http://www.tracs.org/documents/2.ComplaintInformationSheet-AgainstInstitution_000.pdf
http://www.tracs.org/documents/1.BP104-ComplaintsAgainstMemberInstitutionsorTRACS.pdf
http://www.tracs.org/documents/3.TRACSComplaintForm-AgainstInstitution_000.pdf
Students may access a TRACS Student Complaint Form at the TRACS website or: http://www.heritagebiblecollege.edu/forms.html under the subsection “TRACS Student Complaint Form.”
Students may also file a complaint through SARA-NC. SARA-NC is the portal for the North Carolina State Education Assistance Authority. Students should follow the SARA-NC Complaint Process and use the SARA-NC Complaint Form (PDF). SARA-NC contact Information: email to complaint@saranc.org or
SARA North Carolina
North Carolina State Education Assistance Authority
P.O. Box 14103
Research Triangle Park, NC 27709
T: (855) SARA-1-NC (727-2162)
T: (919) 549-8614, ext. 4667
Website: www.saranc.org
As a last resort students may contact the appropriate authority in the student's state of residence. Links to appropriate state entities can be found at the link below:
Student Complaint Process by State
Professional Licensure
HBC does not offer any programs via distance/online education that lead to professional licensure at the present time.
Important:
In most cases, these complaint procedures require the student to exhaust all complaint avenues internal to the institution before a complaint can be filed at the state or accrediting agency level. HBC students are advised to first attempt to resolve complaints with HBC administration.
HBC Student Complaint Process
http://www.heritagebiblecollege.edu/hbc-complaint-process.html
HBC Student Complaint Form
SARA-NC Complaint Process
http://www.saranc.org/Complaint.html
SARA-NC Complaint Form
http://www.saranc.org/docs/SARA-NC-ComplaintForm.pdf
NC Post-secondary Education Complaint Policy
https://www.northcarolina.edu/sites/default/files/student_complaint_policy.pdf
NC Post-secondary Education Complaint Form
https://www.northcarolina.edu/sites/default/files/student_complaint_form.pdf
Student Complaint Process by State
http://www.sheeo.org/sites/default/files/Complaint%20Process%20Links%2012-2012.pdf
TRACS: Student Complaints Against Member Institutions
http://www.tracs.org/documents/1.BP104-ComplaintsAgainstMemberInstitutionsorTRACS.pdf
TRACS: Complaint Information Sheet
http://www.tracs.org/documents/2.ComplaintInformationSheet-AgainstInstitution.pdf
TRACS: Complaint Form against Institution
Students may access a TRACS Student Complaint Form at:
http://www.tracs.org/documents/2.ComplaintInformationSheet-AgainstInstitution_000.pdf