.edu Internet Domain to Continue Under EDUCAUSE Management

The U.S. Department of Commerce (DoC) National Telecommunications and Information Administration has extended the contract granting administration of the .edu Internet domain to EDUCAUSE through September 30, 2011. The initial five-year contract was to end on September 30 of this year.

In the five years that EDUCAUSE, a nonprofit association for information technology in higher education, has administered the .edu domain, it has implemented equitable procedures and rigorous controls to insure adherence to the DoC policy that .edu domains be assigned only to postsecondary institutions that are institutionally accredited by an agency on the U.S. Department of Education's list of Nationally Recognized Accrediting Agencies. (Under a grandfather principle, institutions and organizations with .edu domains prior to October 2001 have been allowed to retain those domains so long as they maintain proper administrative control.)

Under the new contract extension, EDUCAUSE will be authorized to assess an annual $40.00 administration fee to recoup the expenses of managing the domain. Administrative contacts for each .edu domain will receive a series of communications about the fee starting in early May.

Another provision of the contract extension authorizes EDUCAUSE to implement a procedure addressing violations of the prohibition against transferring .edu domains from one entity to another. The DoC and EDUCAUSE expect a welcome consequence of both this and the fee collection procedures to be a significant reduction in the number of inactive and ineligible .edu domain names. Details on these and other policies and procedures may be found at the .edu Administration Web site.

As stated in the Commerce Department's original Notice of a Cooperative Agreement (Federal Register, April 6, 2001), "EDUCAUSE has the requisite technical and organizational capability as well as the educational community support to appropriately administer .edu ... [including] the support of the American Council on Education, Association of American Universities, National Association of State Universities and Land Grant Colleges, American Association of State Colleges and Universities, Council of Independent Colleges, and the American Association of Community Colleges. EDUCAUSE is committed to and has demonstrated that it will represent the interests of .edu stakeholders while administering .edu through a transparent and open policy development process."

EDUCAUSE Vice President Mark Luker said, “The association is honored to continue meeting this important responsibility to the higher education community.”

About EDUCAUSE

EDUCAUSE is a nonprofit association whose mission is to advance higher education by promoting the intelligent use of information technology. The current membership comprises more than 2,200 colleges, universities, and educational organizations, including 250 corporations, with 17,000 active members. Learn more about EDUCAUSE at www.educause.edu.

About National Telecommunications and Information Administration

The National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA), a division of the U.S. Department of Commerce, is the President's principal adviser on telecommunications and information policy issues, and in this role frequently works with other Executive Branch agencies to develop and present the Administration's position on these issues. Learn more about NTIA at www.ntia.doc.gov/.