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Regular and Substantive Interaction (RSI) is a federal requirement for distance education courses in higher education. Institutions that offer online courses eligible for federal financial aid must ensure that these courses include meaningful, ongoing interaction between instructors and students.
The U.S. Department of Education defines RSI as including:
Regular interaction: Scheduled and consistent engagement initiated by the instructor throughout the course.
Substantive interaction: Academic-focused activities that engage students in the learning process and support their academic growth.
RSI is not satisfied by:
Auto-graded assignments without instructor feedback
Pre-recorded content with no instructor follow-up
Administrative announcements that do not engage with academic content
“Robo-Taught” courses that rely heavily on third-party platforms such as Pearson, Cengage, McGraw-Hill, and similar vendors.
Failure to meet RSI requirements may result in courses being classified as “correspondence courses,” which are not eligible for federal financial aid. Therefore, maintaining RSI is essential for both compliance and student success in online education.
Although the federal government allows for several acceptable forms of Regular and Substantive Interaction (RSI), CFCC requires a minimum of two key elements in all online courses: weekly announcements and weekly individualized feedback on assignments.
Establishing this minimum standard allows us to more efficiently monitor and track compliance across courses. Instructors are welcome to incorporate additional forms of RSI; however, these two components must be consistently present within the Canvas course and easily accessible for supervisor review.
The instructor delivers weekly announcements that incorporate course material and class progress. Announcements should include, but not limited to, elements of an academic nature such as frequently asked questions, extensions or clarification of course content, or prerequisite knowledge for an upcoming module.
Instructors must provide personalized feedback on assignments at least once per week, tailored to each student’s learning progress. For students who have mastered the content, feedback should highlight the skills the student should continue to apply and/or offer extensions for further learning.
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