Disability accommodations in higher education

Full Title:
RISE Act

Summary#

This bill (the RISE Act) changes parts of the Higher Education Act to make it easier for colleges to recognize students with disabilities and to give families better information when choosing a college. The main changes require colleges to accept certain school or professional records as enough proof of a disability, to publish clear rules about getting accommodations, to report basic data about registered students with disabilities, and to fund a national support center.

  • Colleges must accept certain types of documentation from high school or other education settings (for example, an IEP, a Section 504 plan, prior college disability records, or a licensed professional’s evaluation) as sufficient to establish a student has a disability for campus accommodations.
  • Colleges must have clear, public, and accessible information about how they decide who is eligible for accommodations, and share that information with students, parents, and faculty (including at orientation and on a public website).
  • Colleges would submit basic counts and outcomes about undergraduate students registered with their disability services to federal data systems (total registered, number using accommodations as reported to the office, percentage of undergraduates registered, and the number of degrees/certificates awarded to registered students), unless those numbers would reveal a student’s identity.
  • The bill authorizes $10 million in total for a national center that provides information and technical help for postsecondary students with disabilities for fiscal years 2027–2031.
  • The bill says it does not change the meaning of certain ADA terms or rights under the Americans with Disabilities Act.

What it means for you#

  • Students with disabilities: It could be easier to get campus accommodations because colleges must accept several common types of prior documentation (like an IEP, Section 504 plan, prior college disability records, or a licensed professional’s evaluation) as proof of disability. The bill does not remove colleges’ ability to use even easier (less burdensome) methods.
  • Parents and families: Colleges must publish clear information about how they decide eligibility for accommodations and make that information available at orientation and online. This could help families understand what documentation a college will accept.
  • High school students planning college: Records from high school (IEP or Section 504 plans) are named as valid documentation if they were used in high school. This could reduce the need for new assessments when a student first enrolls in college.
  • Colleges and disability services offices: They must adopt written policies accepting specified documents, publish clear eligibility procedures, share those procedures publicly and at orientation, and report certain counts and outcomes to federal data systems. This could mean changes to intake procedures, websites, orientation materials, and data reporting processes.
  • Students choosing a college: Federal reporting of basic disability-related numbers could give more public information about how many students use disability services and degree outcomes for registered students. The bill requires reporting unless the numbers would identify an individual.
  • Veterans or service members: Documentation of a disability tied to uniformed service is listed as acceptable proof for accommodations.

Expenses#

Estimated public cost: The bill authorizes $10,000,000 total to carry out the national center program for fiscal years 2027 through 2031.

  • Authorized federal funding: $10 million total for the National Center for Information and Technical Support for Postsecondary Students with Disabilities (FY2027–FY2031).
  • Other costs: The bill does not include a fiscal note for costs to colleges or federal agencies for implementing the reporting, outreach, or policy changes.
  • Possible administrative costs: Colleges may face staffing, technology, and paperwork costs to change intake procedures, publish and disseminate information, and submit new data to federal systems.
  • No additional public cost estimate is provided in the bill text for those institutional or agency costs.
    No publicly available information beyond the $10 million authorization is provided in the bill text.

Proponents' View#

  • The bill appears intended to reduce barriers for students with disabilities when they enter college by allowing common and existing documents (IEPs, Section 504 plans, prior college records, licensed evaluations, or service-related disability records) to count as proof of disability.
  • The bill appears intended to make colleges more transparent about how they decide who gets accommodations, which could help students and parents plan for supports before enrollment.
  • The bill appears intended to improve public information by adding basic disability-related counts and outcomes to federal postsecondary data, helping prospective students compare institutions.
  • The authorized funding appears intended to strengthen a national center that gives technical help and information to students with disabilities and to institutions.

Opponents' View#

  • One concern is that the bill does not include a detailed cost estimate for colleges. Reporting and policy changes could create administrative and technology costs for institutions without specified funding.
  • The bill requires colleges to collect and report disability-related data. This may raise privacy questions about how institutions protect that information, even though the bill says institutions need not report numbers that would identify an individual.
  • The bill does not fully explain how federal authorities will enforce the new requirements or what penalties, if any, apply if an institution fails to adopt the specified policies.
  • It is unclear exactly how changing the cross-reference in the definition of disability will affect eligibility rules in practice; the bill calls that a “perfecting amendment,” but the practical effect is not explained in the text.
  • Reporting the number of students “accessing or receiving accommodations” is listed as based on voluntary reporting to the office of disability services. This could lead to undercounts and make comparisons across colleges difficult.