R.I. Gen. Laws § 16-59-11: Investigative powers of board.

The council on postsecondary education shall have power to investigate all transactions and matters relating to higher public education in the state, including those required pursuant to an interstate, distance-learning reciprocity agreement, and to summon witnesses, administer oaths, and to require testimony and the production of records in like manner and to the same extent as a court of law.