Legal Rights of Persons With Disabilities - Ossh.com

III.
POST-SECONDARY EDUCATION
A. General Law - Section 504
All post-secondary programs, including vocational programs, which receive federal financial
assistance, are prohibited by section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act from discriminating on the basis of
disability. Section 504 provides that no qualified individual with a disability shall be excluded from
participation in, or denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any program or activity
receiving federal financial assistance. This section focuses on the impact of section 504 on post-secondary
education.
In general, it is unlawful to discriminate against an otherwise qualified individual with a disability
in any academic, research, insurance, counseling, financial aid, physical education, athletics, recreation,
transportation, other extracurricular, or any other post-secondary education program or activity which
receives federal financial assistance. (29 U.S.C. ' 794; 34 C.F.R. ' 104 et seq.)
B. What is a "Program or Activity"
Until 1988, court decisions limited the scope of section 504 protection to the specific program or
activity which received federal money. Thus, if a college received federal assistance only in the form of
student financial aid (such as Guaranteed Student Loans and federal grants to students), then only the
financial aid department of the college would have had to comply with section 504, not the entire school.
Legislation which broadened the scope of section 504 was enacted in 1988. (29 U.S.C. ' 794(b).)
C. Nondiscrimination in Admissions, Recruitment, and Accommodation
A "qualified individual with a disability" may not be denied admission or be subjected to
discrimination in admissions or recruitment solely because of his or her disability. Schools may not limit
the number or proportion of students with disabilities, and may not use any admission tests which have a
disproportionate, adverse effect on applicants with disabilities, unless such tests are valid predictors of
success in the specific program and alternative tests or criteria are not available. Admissions tests must
accurately reflect the applicant's achievement level and not merely reflect his or her disability.
Admissions officers may not ask whether an applicant is disabled, unless it is clearly stated that the
information is voluntary, will be kept confidential, and is being used solely in order to monitor the school's
compliance with nondiscrimination laws.
A post-secondary education program which receives federal funds must modify its academic
requirements, if necessary, to ensure that a person with a disability is not discriminated against, and must
provide "auxiliary aids" such as readers, interpreters, and adapted classroom equipment. However,
educational programs do not need to modify requirements which are "essential" to the program. An
"otherwise qualified" individual with a disability has been interpreted to mean someone who meets all of a
program's requirements, despite his or her disability. Thus, a nursing school, for example, may impose
valid physical qualifications for admission to a clinical program; it need not waive important academic
requirements or provide an interpreter so that a person with a hearing
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