Industry considerations
Edtech SaaS considerations
What a founder weighs before building SaaS for schools and learners: who buys, the regulatory perimeter, data questions and the sales cycle.
This page sets out what building SaaS for schools and learners asks of a founder, in general terms.
The perimeter below is drawn from United States federal sources, and the rules of other countries and of the states are outside this page.
What WE's teams can and cannot build
- WE is a long-horizon business incubation and consulting firm that steers a dedicated, fully remote team building the company with its founder.
- The team builds software: architecture, an agile build in short cycles and a pilot environment where early customers can use the product.
- The team does not run a live service, because WE builds to pilot scale.
- The team does not store or process restricted or regulated data in WE systems.
- WE gives no assurance that a product will pass a particular audit or hold a particular certification.
- WE does not give legal, tax, accounting, insurance or compliance advice.
- WE coordinates a founder’s own counsel and other specialists, and the founder engages them directly.
Who buys and who decides
In education the buyer is usually a school, a district or an institution, so the person who wants the product is rarely the only person who must approve it. Name the budget owner, the instructional owner and the reviewer for student data before the first demo.
The regulatory and standards perimeter
-
Education records and outside providers
US federalAs of October 10, 2026
Under the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act regulations, 34 CFR 99.31, a school may treat an outside party as a school official if the party performs a function the school would otherwise staff, is under the school’s direct control over education records and is subject to the rules on redisclosure.
Source 1: Conditions under which prior consent is not required to disclose information, 34 CFR 99.31
-
Online services directed to children
US federalAs of October 10, 2026
The Children’s Online Privacy Protection Rule, 16 CFR 312.3, applies to an operator of a website or online service directed to children and requires the operator to provide notice of what information it collects from children. Whether a product is directed to children is a question to settle early.
Source 2: Children's Online Privacy Protection Rule, 16 CFR 312.3 General requirements
-
Accessibility of public entity web content
US federalAs of October 10, 2026
A Department of Justice rule, 28 CFR 35.200, covers web content and mobile apps that a public entity provides or makes available directly or through contractual, licensing or other arrangements, and sets WCAG 2.1 Level AA as the standard, with dates that depend on the size of the entity. A public school buyer may ask how a product meets that standard.
Source 3: Requirements for web and mobile accessibility, 28 CFR 35.200
Questions about data handling
- Which student records does the product receive, and what function does it perform that a school would otherwise staff?
- Can the school keep direct control over how the vendor uses and maintains education records?
- Is any part of the product directed to children, and what information does it collect from them?
- How can a buyer verify that the product meets WCAG 2.1 Level AA?
The sales cycle
A school or district reviews how a vendor will use and maintain education records before it shares them. Treat that review, and any accessibility review, as stages of the sale, and ask early who runs each one.
Sources
- Conditions under which prior consent is not required to disclose information, 34 CFR 99.31, Department of Education (eCFR) . Accessed October 10, 2026.
- Children's Online Privacy Protection Rule, 16 CFR 312.3 General requirements, Federal Trade Commission (eCFR) . Accessed October 10, 2026.
- Requirements for web and mobile accessibility, 28 CFR 35.200, Department of Justice (eCFR) . Accessed October 10, 2026.
Start a readiness review
Tell WE where the company stands. WE replies to arrange a conversation and a written read of your company's timeline.
A short PDF of the charts and sources, sent by email to the address you give.
Talk to WE : A question that does not fit a form.