College - Continuing and Higher Education

Getting Started

Quick Guide to Accommodations on the SAT for Students with Disabilities. Here is a quick guide to accommodations on the college boards (SATs). Wrightslaw research editor, Sue Whitney, provided the information in this Quick Guide to Accommodations on the SAT.

Preparing Your Child For College: A Resource Book for Parents
This resource book is designed to help you plan ahead -- with your child and your child's teachers and counselors -- to ensure he or she is prepared academically for the rigors of college and to save now and plan financially for the costs of a college education.

Help for College Students with Disabilities from Wrightslaw
Parents of disabled kids are often surprised to learn that their college-bound children are no longer eligible for services. This document from Wrightslaw contains information and many resources that will help you along the way.

College Planning for Students with Learning Issues. Is college the best choice for your teen with a learning disability? Check out these expert guidelines for making an informed decision about postsecondary education.

Navigating Admissions with a Learning Disability. Here are seven things parents of college-bound students with learning challenges should start doing right away.

Peterson's Education Center
Peterson's connects individuals, educational institutions, and corporations through its acclaimed books, Web sites, online products, and admissions services. Peterson's reaches an estimated 105 million consumers annually with information about colleges and universities, career schools, graduate programs, distance learning, executive training, private secondary schools, summer opportunities, study abroad, financial aid, test preparation, and career exploration.

EducationPlanner is your one-stop career and college planning site. Offers information to research careers, choose a postsecondary school, apply on-line, and find ways to finance your education.

Transition to College and Work for Teens. You'll find good information needed to make the right transitional decisions on this site from NCLD Info Zone, including useful tips, key websites, and in-depth research reports.

Transition to College: Strategic Planning to Ensure Success for Students with Learning Disabilities. Making plans for the future and knowing where you're going allows you to design the steps that will take you to your destination. As a parent, it is important to encourage your child to learn what he or she needs to know about college in order to plan a successful transition. This Parent Advocacy Brief can help you understand the requirements and opportunities included in the law so that you can successfully plan and help your child prepare for his or her future.

Parents Guide to Transition to College, Career, and Community. This article will increase your knowledge and provide tools to help you prepare for your child’s transition from K-12 education to postsecondary education and life as a young adult.

Workforce Recruitment Program. A joint program from by the Office of Disability Employment Policy (ODEP) and the U.S. Department of Defense (ODMEO), the WRP is a recruitment and referral program that connects federal and private sector employers with motivated postsecondary students with disabilities who are eager to prove their abilities in the workplace through summer or permanent jobs.

Helping Hispanic Parents Plan for College
The Road to a College Diploma (pdf) From Risk to Opportunity (pdf)
The White House Initiative on Educational Excellence for Hispanics: Improving Educational Opportunities and Outcomes for Latino Students. (pdf)

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Choosing a College That's Right for YOU

From Where I Sit is a powerful video series of eight CSU students with disabilities who share their experiences in the college classroom. They tell their stories by answering five questions:

What is your disability?
What made you decide to come to college?
What is it like in the classroom?
What do you have to do to keep up with the class?
What suggestions can you offer to faculty that will make their classroom more accessible?

Going-to-college (www.going-to-college.org) This new website contains information about living college life with a disability. It is designed for high school students and provides video clips, activities, and additional resources that can help them get a head start in planning for college. These video clips offer a way to hear firsthand from students with disabilities who have been successful.

Getting Into College: What Students with Disabilities Want to Know. This module assists students with disabilities to understand the college admissions process.

Regional Center for College Students with Learning Disabilities. The Regional Center for College Students with Learning Disabilities was established at FDU as one of four regional centers funded by the State of New Jersey Commission on Higher Education to provide services to college students with learning disabilities.

Disability Friendly Colleges. A Guide for Students with Physical Disabilities.

Colleges for Students with Learning Disabilities. A listing of colleges in MA (and other states) and additional information from the Concord SpedPAC.

Colleges with Programs for Learning Disabled Students
Almost all colleges and universities provide some level of services and/or accommodations for learning disabled students, as mandated by the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). The colleges and universities listed on this site go a step further...they offer programs, some quite comprehensive, designed to support students with learning disabilities.

Postsecondary Education Options for Students with Intellectual Disabilities (PDF) - Recognizing the challenges faced by students with intellectual disabilities and the benefits of college education, the authors include an overview of the types of options available for students looking to enter college and recommendations for improving access to postsecondary education for students with intellectual disabilities. [Debra Hart, Meg Grigal, Caren Sax, Donna Martinez and Madeleine Will. (2006) University of Massachusetts-Boston]

Selecting a College for Students with Learning Disabilities or Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)
Students with LD and/or ADHD have an array of learning strengths and needs as they approach the transition from high school to college. They need to understand their abilities and guide their transition planning by looking at various options. If they select college, it is essential that they investigate postsecondary programs to find the right match.

Choosing a College
If you are reading this, I assume you want to go to college. You must have a number of reasons why (to get a good job, be a teacher; play tennis, be a doctor, meet new people, choose a career, play in the band, etc.). Keep these reasons in mind as you look at colleges. These reasons will help you know what to look for as you read about and visit colleges.

College and College Prep from LD Online
More and more students with learning disabilities are enrolling in college and universities. And more and more higher education institutions are offering support programs for students with LD. Here we’ve assembled information to assist in the planning and selection process, plus lots of advice on creating a successful post-secondary education experience.

Virtual campus tours offer high-school students the chance to see colleges without leaving home. The Web site YOUniversityTV.com has video tours of more than 400 four-year institutions in the U.S. Colleges do not provide or pay for the online tours, which are produced by the Web site. "It's not the same as being on the campus, but on the other hand you can't get there sometimes..."

VA College Quest - A Guide to College Success for Students with disAbilities. This site has college information specific to VA, but also excellent articles and resources that apply to students in any state making plans to attend college or continuing education.

New! Navigating College Handbook. From the Autistic Self-Advocacy Network -An introduction to the college experience from those who’ve been there. The writers and contributors are Autistic adults, and who give you the advice that we wish someone could have given us when we headed off to college. We wish we could sit down and have a chat with each of you, to share our experiences and answer your questions. Free download.

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Articles

Podcast: Transition from High School to College for Students with Learning Disabilities. Policy Podcast from NCLD with Vincent Varrassi of Fairleigh Dickinson University. He discusses the basics every high school student and family should know about how to plan for a successful transition from high school to college for students with learning disabilities.

Summer Pre-College Programs for Students. HEATH staff members have compiled this list as a resource for students with disabilities who are seeking ways to prepare for college and enhance college performance.

Providing Testing Accommodations for Students with Disabilities. The College Board's Services for Students with Disabilities (SSD) provides a broad range of accommodations, such as Braille tests, large print, and extended time, to students on College Board tests who provide documentation of a disability. At this site you'll find Examples of Accommodations on College Board Tests, How to Request Accommodations, and what the school must do to start the eligibility process.

Autism Spectrum Disorders and Choosing College Courses
Are you helping a student with an Autism Spectrum Disorder prepare for their freshman year of college?

A Nuts and Bolts Guide to College Success for Deaf and Hard of Hearing Students
This guide provides information for those deaf and hard of hearing students transitioning into a college environment. It includes information on self-advocacy skills, communication strategies, pre-college timelines, financial aid basics, how to access appropriate accommodations, academic issues, and necessary documentation.

Preparing for College is an article from Chapter 4 of "Going to College: Expanding Opportunities for People with Disabilities" by Elizabeth Evans Getzel and Paul Wehman. It provides information students with disabilities must consider about specific areas when determining an appropriate college or university program. Some of these include the availability of support services, campus accessibility, and documentation requirements to obtain services.

College Planning for Students with Learning Disabilities - This digest was created by ERIC, The Educational Resources Information Center to assist high school personnel, students with learning disabilities, and their parents in planning for a successful college experience for students with learning disabilities.

Exit Exams Can Be Optional If You Plan Ahead. This article provides information about an option for your child if he has completed all the course work and passed all classes, but cannot graduate with a diploma because he cannot pass the state exit exams. The easiest way to eliminate the exit exam obstacle is to apply your child's high school credits to a diploma from a private school. The school is the North Atlantic Regional High School (NARHS), a private high school accredited by the state of Maine.

People with Disabilities and Post Secondary Education. Position paper from the National Council on Disability. Includes information on "Improving Financial Aid for People with Disabilities in Postsecondary Education with New Flexibility".

Success Stories

Autism No Longer an Obstacle for Students Seeking College Degree (Pdf) - Mentors, trained teachers help students to see success. The Detroit Free Press (03/10/08).

Embracing Self-Sufficiency - San Antonio Business Journal (11/12/07). Pdf format

Students with Disabilities Get an Extra Hand in Transition to College (Pdf) Austin American Stateman (03/06/08).

Campuses Widen the Mainstream - The Boston Globe (12/10/07). Pdf format

Help for When College Years are Not So Carefree (Pdf) - the College Living Experience Program. The Chicago Tribune (08/23/07) about.

I Wanted to go to College and my Dream Came True - Here’s what happened. I always wanted to be with my friends. When I was in first grade I was in a special classroom. It was okay but I wanted to be with my friends so I told my mom and dad that I wanted to go into the same door at school that all the other kids were going in. They helped me do that.

Setting Goals and Preparing for the Transition to College - Preparing for the SATs was a big challenge, with the help of his school guidance counselor, Sal applied for testing accommodations for the SAT according to The College Board requirements. Now, college-bound Sal says, "I have proven that I have the ability to overcome challenges. Special education should not be a limitation; it is a jumping point to an endless world of life's lessons."

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Legal Rights & Responsibilities

Letter to Parents from the U.S. Department of Education, Office for Civil Rights (OCR) about changes students with disabilities encounter as they make the transition from high school to postsecondary education. Postsecondary institutions have significantly different responsibilities from those of school districts. This letter provides examples of the unique relationship between postsecondary institutions and students with disabilities.

Students with Disabilities Preparing for Postsecondary Education: Know Your Rights and Responsibilities
The Office for Civil Rights (OCR) in the U.S. Department of Education is providing the information in this pamphlet to explain the rights and responsibilities of students with disabilities who are preparing to attend postsecondary schools. This pamphlet also explains the obligations of a postsecondary school to provide academic adjustments, including auxiliary aids and services, to ensure that the school does not discriminate on the basis of disability.

Accommodations and Modifications for College Students. Do colleges have to provide accommodations for disabled students? Dr. Brown offers advice about dealing with colleges.

The Law After High School - Q & As on important legal topics for students entering college.

College Students and Disability Law - Today, there are more students with disabilities in higher education than ever before. Although the process has been slow, colleges and universities are making their programs more accessible, sometimes in good faith, sometimes due to coercion by federal agencies and courts.

ADA Q & A: Section 504 & Postsecondary Education - Many parents of students with disabilities know about rights and responsibilities under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). As students and their families prepare for the transition from high school to postsecondary options, they will often find they are less familiar with protections provided by the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act. The following questions reflect those most commonly asked of PACER staff regarding the ADA and postsecondary institutions.

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Loans, Scholarships & Financial Aid

Attending college can be an exciting and enriching experience. It can also be a costly one.

We've created a page of resources to help you find Loans, Scholarships and Financial Aid for Students.

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Khan Academy provides free video tutorials for every math skill addressed by official SAT sample test questions.

Onlinecollegeclasses.com
A free online educational resource center for students. Customize your curriculum when you access thousands of resources.

Onlineschools.org
Search for the most accurate or relevant information on the subject you are interested in studying. Choose your state and start browsing through the list of schools that offer pertinent online educational options.

ThinkCollege.net
Youth with intellectual disabilities have not had many chances to go to college. This is changing as individuals across the country begin to create opportunities for these youth to reap the benefits of postsecondary education. This website will provide information and links to anyone interested in finding out more about the possibilities.

EdRef™ College Search Directory
Free detailed information on thousands of US colleges, universities, and post-secondary trade schools. School info includes admission requirements, degrees & majors, contact info, test scores, student diversity, religious affiliations, athletics, tuition expenses, etc.

College View
This website contains a wealth of information on topics such as: Selecting a Major, Financial Aid 101, SAT/ACT Scores, 5 Tips for Paying for College, What to Expect Upon Arrival, Letters of Recommendation, and Occupational Outlook.

Colleges with Programs for Learning Disabled Students
According to this website, "almost all colleges and universities provide some level of services and/or accommodations for learning disabled students, as mandated by the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)." The colleges and universities listed on this website "offer programs, some quite comprehensive, designed to support students with learning disabilities."

Planning for Postsecondary Transition. Presented by NCLD and 92nd Street Y, provides insights into the realities that students with learning disabilities face as they prepare to apply to and attend college.

Resource Guide on Higher Education for People with Disabilities. A comprehensive resource guide that includes a listing of scholarship and loan programs from the Texas Council for Developmental Disabilities. Information and resources for students nationwide, though some information is specific to Texas.

New Career Paths for Students with Disabilities by the American Association for the Advancement of Science (2002).The number of students with disabilities attending higher education institutions is climbing. More than one million students with disabilities are now enrolled in American colleges and universities. This publication chronicles the life experiences of students with disabilities who were educated after passage of major legislative protections and suggests five key areas for the focus of future disability legislation, policies, and initiatives.

The Guide to Federal Student Aid is a comprehensive resource on student financial aid from the U.S. Department of Education. Grants, loans, and work-study are the three major forms of student financial aid available through the federal Student Assistance Programs. Updated each year, The Guide tells you about the programs and how to apply them. The booklet may be obtained by calling the Federal Student Aid Information Center at 1-800-4FEDAID or by visiting the department’s website. The 2008-09 version of the Guide, which covers July 1, 2008 to June 30, 2009, is now available to download in English (PDF) and Spanish (PDF).

Preparing for College: The Online Guide for Students with Disabilities. Preparing for college is a challenge. If you have a disability, the process can be more complicated. This online guide offers sound advice about factors to consider when choosing a college, financial aid, understanding your rights, disability organizations, and information about colleges and universities that offer special programs for students with disabilities.


Wrightslaw l No Child Left Behind l IDEA 2004 l Fetaweb l Yellow Pages for Kids l Harbor House Law Press