## Facts

- New York law divides authority over higher education between the Board of Regents and Commissioner of Education (statewide supervision and program registration) and the State University of New York (SUNY) Board of Trustees (operation and management of SUNY programs).
- SUNY at Albany proposed Ph.D. programs in History and English.
- State law required such doctoral programs to be registered by the Regents through the Commissioner before being offered.
- The Commissioner denied registration of both proposed programs based on academic quality criteria set by statute and regulation.
- SUNY officials, faculty, and students sued seeking declaratory relief that the SUNY Trustees alone controlled SUNY’s degree programs and that the Commissioner lacked authority to deny registration.
- The trial court treated the challenge as a declaratory judgment action and, as to the specific denials, in part as an Article 78 proceeding; it held (i) the Regents/Commissioner had registration authority over SUNY programs, (ii) review of the History denial was time-barred, and (iii) the English denial had a rational basis.
- The Appellate Division unanimously affirmed.
- In the Court of Appeals, appellants limited their argument to whether the Regents/Commissioner possessed legal authority to require and deny registration of SUNY doctoral programs.

## Issues

1. Whether the Education Law authorizes the Board of Regents, acting through the Commissioner of Education, to require registration of SUNY doctoral programs and to deny registration for failure to meet prescribed academic standards.
2. Whether, and to what extent, SUNY’s statutory authority to operate and manage its curricula limits the Regents’ supervisory registration power.

## Decision

- The Court of Appeals affirmed.
- The Education Law empowers the Board of Regents, through the Commissioner, to require registration of SUNY doctoral programs and to deny registration where the programs do not satisfy prescribed academic standards.
- SUNY’s statutory operational authority does not exempt SUNY from statewide registration and academic-standard requirements administered by the Regents and Commissioner.

## Legal Principles

- The Board of Regents and Commissioner possess statewide supervisory authority over higher education, including prescribing academic standards and administering mandatory program registration.
- SUNY’s authority to operate and manage its academic programs coexists with, and remains subject to, the Regents’ separate authority to determine whether degree programs meet minimum statewide academic standards for registration.
- Courts reviewing agency action in this context distinguish challenges to the agency’s legal authority from challenges to the rationality of its academic determinations; where only authority is contested, the inquiry centers on statutory interpretation.

## Conclusion

The Court of Appeals held that New York’s Education Law permits the Regents and Commissioner to require registration of SUNY doctoral programs and to withhold registration when programs fail to meet prescribed academic standards, notwithstanding SUNY’s managerial control over its internal academic operations.


Moore v. Board of Regents of the Univ. of the State of N.Y., 44 N.Y.2d 593, 407 N.Y.S.2d 452 (N.Y. 1978)