Faculty Guide
Disability and the Law in Higher Education
The size and nature of the population of students with disabilities and the legal mandates for their inclusion have changed dramatically in the last 20 years. Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) impose a responsibility on postsecondary institutions not to discriminate on the basis of disability and to provide meaningful access for individuals with disabilities.
Access under these acts means much more than the removal of architectural barriers. Faculty and staff often become the gatekeepers for needed accommodations.
Rehabilitation Act of 1973
Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act provides that "no otherwise qualified individual with disabilities in the United States ... shall, solely by reason of his/her disability, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of or be subjected to discrimination under any program or activity receiving federal financial assistance."
Though compliance with this law does not require special educational programming for students with disabilities, it does require that an institution make appropriate academic accommodations and reasonable modifications to policies and practices in order to allow the full participation of students with disabilities in the programs and activities available to non-disabled students. The institution is under no obligation to ensure students with disabilities' success in higher education; it must only ensure that these students have the same opportunities as other students to be successful on the basis of their intellectual abilities and academic achievements.
Americans with Disabilities Act
In 1990 Congress passed the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), civil rights legislation that protects people with disabilities in the areas of employment, public accommodations, state and local governmental services and telecommunications. The ADA reinforces the provisions of the Rehabilitation Act by requiring that all public facilities, services and communications be accessible to people with disabilities and that auxiliary aids and services be provided.
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