Laws that support students with disabilities in higher education

The most important law that you need to be aware of is the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 or ADA. ADA guarantees civil rights protections for persons with disabilities and protects from discrimination on the basis of disability. Specific areas of protection are:

• Employment in public and private sectors
• Transportation
• Public accommodations
• State and local government services
• Telecommunication relay services

Some key aspects of ADA are:

• expectation that public colleges and universities allow for persons with disabilities to participate in the most integrated setting possible
• reasonable modifications in policies, practices and procedures (note takers, longer time on exams, etc.)
• Surcharges to cover the costs of accommodations may not be imposed solely on persons with disabilities

"See, the difference between college and high school is how you get help. In college, you ha e to ask for it and look for help yourself. Graduating students need to understand that people aren't just going to come to you. That's why, when I'm looking at classes I could take, I'm not looking at just the class. I'm asking people what kind of help I can get for the class." -- Tina Johnstin, 20

Essentially ADA gives you the right to access all aspects of college.

Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 ensures that colleges and universities receiving federal funding must not discriminate in the recruitment, admission or treatment of students based on disability.

Bottom line - the academic program needs to be accessible as much as possible to all students with disabilities.

Three of many important provisions under Section 504 are:

• a college cannot use admissions tests that inadequately measure the academic qualifications of disabled students because appropriate modifications were not made for them
• a college cannot exclude a qualified student with a disability from any course of study
• a college cannot counsel a student with a disability toward a more restrictive career

For more information visit the Association of Higher Education and Disability at www.ahead.org where you can buy brochures about ADA and 504.