College Students with Disabilities

This is the time in the semester when some students with learning disabilities start to struggle in classes. Sometimes, a student with a documented learning disability will refuse to self-identifying to the college’s student disability office and will try to “tough it out” through the semester without seeking  help or accommodations for his learning disability. This tactic almost always leads to the student struggling and being more stressed than necessary. If this sounds like your student remind him that it is never too late to meet with someone in the student disability office (sometimes accommodations are also managed through the counseling, student affairs, or academic affairs office.) 

Some things to consider as your student seeks help:

• If your child had a documented disability in high school and benefited from an Independent Education Plan, or IEP, in K-12 he may be eligible for accommodations through his college’s Disability Services office.

• Once a student starts college he has a much greater responsibility for his own education including self-identifying as having a disability and presenting the required documentation to the college’s disability services office.

• Even students who've had IEPs from age 6 and beyond will need to provide current documentation of the disability and the need for academic accommodations.

• The college environment and academics are quite different from K-12, for example, K-12 public school districts are required to provide a “free appropriate public education” to students with disabilities. Colleges however, are required to provide “appropriate academic adjustments as necessary to ensure that it does not discriminate on the basis of disability.” 

• An excellent site for basic information about disabled students’ rights and responsibilities is: http://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ocr/transition.html

A College Financing Dilemma

Even though this is a question from the parent of a college junior, I thought it was relevant enough to share with freshman parents and definitely something to remember as your child goes through college.


Q: My daughter has run out of money in her junior year. Should she take out a loan for her senior year or try to work more hours to earn more money? She really wanted to graduate debt free.

A: This is a tough question and will require a lot of evaluation and planning on our daughter’s part. If she wants to graduate without debt she can, but she will probably have to take two or three years to finish her “senior year” while she works at least full time. Before she makes her final decision though, she needs to evaluate the following:

1.     How much can she earn working full time?  Minimum wage in most parts of the country is still $7.25 per hour, which may or may not be enough for her to live on and also pay for school part time.

2.     If she already has a part time job and can become a full time employee with the same employer, will she get a raise or benefits package that will make it worth her while to switch to full time?

3.     If she can’t work full time with one employer, will she be able to work two part time jobs? Will they both offer steady, year-round employment?

4.     What will her full time job prospects be upon graduation? She will need to honestly evaluate how much she can expect to earn upon graduating by researching the recent starting salaries of other students with similar GPAs and experience, from her same college and degree program. From this information she can calculate if it will be worth it for her to take two or three years to graduate while missing out on those same years of full time earnings and benefits in her chosen field.

5.     If she’s a strong student in a proven lucrative major field of study, it may be better for her to take out a federal student loan for her final year and pay it off early upon finding her first job.

6.     She also needs to make sure that switching to part time status will not force her to take required course work out of sequence, or make her ineligible for any scholarships, grants, work-study, or insurance policies (health or auto) she now has.

Mid-term Grades

Not all colleges and universities post mid-term grades, but if your student’s does, now is a good time to ask them to review their mid-term grades with you. If grades are good, keep up the good work! If not, there are a few things to consider before you panic.

1. Most mid-term grades only reflect one or two grades on quizzes or papers and are typically lower than final grades. Some faculty will even list a grade of “I” or “Incomplete” because there have not been enough opportunities for students to earn a valid grade. The student should always check the syllabus or login to an online classroom site for the class to understand how their mid-term grade is actually being calculated. If this information is not posted in the syllabus or online, the student can always meet with the professor to find out how the grade was calculated. 
2. If the grade is low (a D or C) but not failing, now is an ideal time to start working with a tutor or increasing study hours to boost grades in the second half of the semester. Most freshmen employ the same study strategies they used in high school and these approaches are simply insufficient for college classes. Sometimes, students just need to spend some time with a tutor or academic counselor to learn more effective study techniques.
3. If your student feels like the grade is too low to raise, even with extra help or outside work, they need to set up an appointment with the professor or an adviser immediately to discuss ways to either salvage the grade in the class or drop the class to save their overall GPA. *NOTE- Some scholarships or grants require a specific GPA to maintain the award, so staying informed of those requirements will help students decide on the best course of action.