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Education

The export regulations provide exclusions for educational activities that allow for the teaching of commonly taught information to continue at universities.    If you have a course or teaching activity that does not qualify for the exclusions below, contact the Export Compliance Officer for further review. 

Export Administration Regulations (EAR)(15 CFR § 734.3(b)(3)):

Information and "software" that "are released by instruction in a catalog course or associated teaching laboratory of an academic institution" are not subject to the regulations.

  • Where - academic institution
  • How - while conducting the instruction of a course or the course's associated lab class
  • What - appears in a course catalogs

Note:  This does not cover encrypted software

International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR)(22 CFR §120.10)

"Information concerning general scientific, mathematical, or engineering principles commonly taught in schools, colleges, and universities" is not considered technical data under the ITAR and is therefore not controlled.  

  • Where - academic institution
  • How - implied - while conducting the instruction of a course or the course's associated lab class
  • What - focuses on subject matter (implied - appears in course catalog)

Note:  This does not cover software

Senior Design Classes

Classes where students are designing their own projects are subject to the export control regulations.    Contact the Export Compliance Officer if the student design project: 

  • Uses proprietary information 
  • Uses export controlled technical data or technology 
  • Requires a non-disclosure agreement (for the faculty member and/or student) 
  • Has any restrictions on foreign national participation 
  • Has any restrictions on publication and/or dissemination 
  • Has a primary military or national security application 
Teaching Abroad

There are several issues you should consider when teaching a course or part of a course outside the U.S. university system.

  1. Are there students from OFAC sanctioned countries or terrorist states? (Iran, Sudan, Cuba, Iraq, Syria, North Korea, Crimea, etc.) You cannot teach them without a license.

  2. Are any of the students on the Restricted Parties list? You may not teach them. To find out their status, their names must be run through a screening program. 

  3. Is the course material transferring knowledge on "principles not commonly taught"?

  4. Is there sensitive nuclear technology being taught?

Read more on teaching abroad 

Online Courses

The provision of online course(s) to an individual physically located* within a country subject to comprehensive sanctions administered by the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) constitutes an export of a regulated service.  Authorization for the provision of the regulated service must be granted via either by a general or specific license.  In addition to the provision of services for offering the course, the export of items other than general software utilized to host the course would require review.  The export of any commodities and items related to the course should be reviewed to determine any applicable licensing requirements. 

Below is a detailed review of the related citations for each country.

Country

Citation

Course Level/Description

Allowable/Unallowable

Notes

Cuba

Cuba

31 CFR 515.565 (a)(2)(x)

Undergraduate or below online Internet-based courses

Allowable via general license

 

Cuba

31 CFR 515.201(a)

Graduate internet-based courses

Unallowable

Unless specifically authorized by OFAC through license

Cuba

31 CFR 515.565 Note 2 to paragraph (a).  15 CFR 740.21

Online Course Software

Requires EAR licensing determination

Allowable for ECCNs: EAR99 and 5D992.c

North Korea

North Korea

31 CFR 510.201 (a)(3)(ii)(B)

All online, internet-based course

Unallowable

Unless specifically authorized by OFAC through license

Syria

Syria

31 CFR 542.207

Graduate and Undergraduate online internet-based courses

Unallowable

Unless specifically authorized by OFAC through license

Crimea Region

Crimea Region of the Ukraine

Pursuant to E.O. 13685, dated 12/19/2014

Online Internet-based courses graduate and undergraduate

Unallowable

Unless specifically authorized by OFAC through license

Iran

Iran

31 C.F.R. 560. General License G, (b)(1)(iii)

Online courses (including Massive Open Online Courses, coursework not part of a degree seeking program, and fee-based courses) in the humanities, social sciences, law, or business provided that the courses are the equivalent of courses ordinarily required for the completion of undergraduate degree programs in the humanities, social sciences, law, or business

Allowable via general license

Does not cover individuals in degree seeking programs in science or engineering.

Iran

31 C.F.R. 560. General License G, (b)(1)(iii)

Introductory undergraduate level science, technology, engineering, or math courses ordinarily required for the completion of undergraduate degree programs in the humanities, social sciences, law or business. 

Allowable via general license

Does not cover individuals in degree seeking programs in science or engineering.

Iran

31 C.F.R. 560. General License G, (b)(1)(iii)

Introductory undergraduate level courses ordinarily required for the completion of undergraduate degree programs in engineering, science, or math. 

Unallowable

Unless specifically authorized by OFAC through license

Iran

31 CFR 560.204, 31 CFR 560.410(a)                             

Online Internet-based Graduate level courses**

Unallowable

Unless specifically authorized by OFAC through license

Iran

31 C.F.R. 560. General License G, (c)(1)

Online Course Software

Allowable

Must be EAR99 or Educational Information not subject to the EAR. (See 15 CFR 734.9).

SBU would like to thank the Association of University Export Control Officers (AUECO) for the imformational material regarding Sanction Implications and Online Courses.

 *This includes individuals physically in country and those ordinarily resident in country. 

**General License M-1, dated 8/24/21 replaces General License M and grants to a specific programmatic subset of Iranian graduate students who have been granted a non-immigrant visa by the U.S. State Department, but are not physically present in the U.S. due to the COVID-19 pandemic a general license for specified online courses through 9/1/22.   You must confer with the SBU Export Compliance Officer before delivering any services under any general licenses.