.edu Registration

The .edu extension refers to the top level domain name and was historically formulated for all the education institutions in the world. Are you planning to have a website with .edu registration? Only if you are a post secondary institution, accredited under the US department of Education's list of nationally recognized accrediting agencies in the United States, will you have the eligibility criteria for a .edu domain.

As most of the above agencies accredit only American institutions, .edu extensions are now exclusively top level domain of the US. However there are .edu domains in other countries that use a second level domain to refer to the country. (For instance, .edu.mx of Mexico.) However, do not be surprised if you find .edu domains like si.edu which actually refers to the museum Smithsonian Institute. This is because such non qualifying web sites got the .edu domains before the present eligibility conditions came into force.

Registration for the .edu domain is done at Educause, an institution with website, www.educause.edu that has been managing the domain since October 2001. It processes all applications on a first come first served basis. Educause has a 'whois' server that offers contact information for all the .edu domains at http://whois.educause.net.

Educause charges about 40 dollars annually for maintaining a name under the .edu domain. The presidents of the following institutions are on the policy board of Educause that has been given the domain management authority by the US Department of Commerce.

• National Association of College and University Attorneys
• American Council of Education
• President of Educause

Thus, the .edu domain is managed via the website and offers services like administering existing .edu domains, applications for .edu registration, payment of bills, and more.

A list of educational institutions located outside of the USA that are eligible for the .edu domain registration can be found at the URL, http://www.educause.edu/edudomain/international.asp.