Education
Arranging academic adjustments at college
The process is different from school, and the responsibility for starting it moves to the student.
At school, identification and support are largely driven by the institution. At college the student initiates the process, by contacting the disability services office and providing documentation. Nothing carries across automatically.
Start before the term does. Arrangements can take weeks to put in place, particularly where they involve alternative formats, equipment or examination arrangements, and adjustments are generally not applied retrospectively to work already assessed.
Documentation requirements vary between institutions and are usually published. Where recent assessment is required and is expensive, the disability services office can often advise on lower-cost routes.
Adjustments are about access rather than lowering a standard: additional time, alternative formats, note-taking support, accessible materials. Where a request is refused there is an internal process, and each state funds a protection and advocacy organisation that assists at no cost.
What to do next. Contact the disability services office before the term begins, and ask what documentation it requires.
studentaid.gov outranks this page. Rules, figures and dates change
between academic years. This is written to help you read the official sources, not to
stand in front of them. Start there.
Nothing here is a determination. We cannot tell you what you qualify
for, and no website can. The programme and the office that runs it decide that, after
you apply.
Still have a question?
Describe what you are trying to work out and a member of the team will answer, or direct you to the office that makes the decision.