Understanding College Accommodations for Students with Disabilities

If you are a college-bound student who has received accommodations in high school for a documented disability, you may be eligible to receive accommodations in college as well.

Before starting the college search, students and their parents need to be aware of the differences in accommodations between high school and college. The main thing to keep in mind is that the law supports creating an environment that ensures student success in high school, yet it only ensures access to opportunities in college. Once in college, success is the responsibility of the student.

What does this mean? It means that the burden of responsibility for everything from initiating accommodations to ensuring they are correct and supportive to advocating for change moves onto the college student. There are no standardized formats like IEPs or 504s in college; everything is individualized to the student.

This comparison chart gives a snapshot overview:

https://www.canva.com/design/DAGqjEH_4Hg/iZnQ2gUU-vp5AoQ867SyQg/view

Are you interested in knowing what laws (and sections thereof) apply to these concepts? This chart by Central Texas College lays out the same concepts in much more detail.

Once the student has a clear understanding of what they can expect regarding accommodations in college, students can research colleges that best suit their needs and anticipated support level. We’ll address resources for building a college list for students with accommodations in a later blog post. Stay tuned!

Heading to College this Fall and Need Disability Accommodations?

If you haven’t already contacted the student support services office at the school where you’ve paid a deposit and are planning to attend, now is the time. It can take a while for the college support team to process your paperwork. If they have questions or require further documentation, this all takes time. Getting the documentation and paperwork sorted before your first semester starts means you will be able to communicate your needs and rights to professors from the first day of class.