TRADITIONAL ACADEMIA IS ONE OF OBAMA’S BIGGEST SOURCES OF SUPPORT AND DONATIONS. ONLINE EDUCATION IS A COMPETITOR: Department of Education Throws Up A Roadblock to Online Education. “The Department of Education is revisiting a fight it lost in 2012: to make states authorize every distance education provider that enrolls students within their borders. Ever since a federal judge struck down this requirement on procedural grounds, states have been able to exempt online programs from the authorization process as long as it’s accredited somewhere else.”