From the ECS State Policy Database Postsecondary Students--Disabled

This database is made possible by your state's fiscal support of the Education Commission of the States (ECS). Most entries are legislative, although rules/regulations and executive orders that make substantive changes are included. Every effort is made to collect the latest available version of policies; in some instances, recent changes might not be reflected. For expediency purposes minimal attention has been paid to style (capitalization, punctuation) and format. Please cite use of the database as: Education Commission of the States (ECS) State Policy Database, retrieved [date]. State Status/Date Level Summary MD Signed into law 04/2012 Community College Postsec. Adds a reason that any resident of the state who is out of the workforce by reason of total and permanent disability who enrolls at a community college in a class that has at least 10 regularly enrolled students can be exempt from payment of tuition: for continuing education instruction designed to lead to employment, including life skills instruction. http://mlis.state.md.us/2012rs/chapters_noln/Ch_83_hb0053T.pdf Title: H.B. 53 Source: mlis.state.md.us FL Signed into law 06/2011 Postsec. Establishes the Higher Education Coordinating Council and directs the council to make recommendations on: (1) The primary core mission of public and nonpublic postsecondary education institutions in the context of state access demands and economic development goals; (2) Performance outputs and outcomes designed to meet annual and long-term state goals, including, but not limited to, increased student access, preparedness, retention, transfer, and completion; (3) The state's articulation policies and practices to ensure that cost benefits to the state are maximized without jeopardizing quality; and (4) A plan for workforce development education. Directs the Commissioner of Education, in consultation with the Chancellor of the State University System, to establish the Articulation Coordinating Committee which will make recommendations related to statewide articulation policies to the Higher Education Coordination Council, the State Board of Education, and the Board of Governors. Details the duties of the committee. Requires Department of Education to utilize student performance data in subsequent coursework to determine appropriate Advanced Placement, Advanced International Certificate of Education examination, and International Baccalaureate examination scores for the receipt of college credit. Repeals the exemption from the state university system summer term enrollment requirement for students who have earned 9 or more credits through acceleration mechanisms. Requires the State Board of Education to specify by rule provisions for alternative remediation opportunities and retesting policies. Provides access to postsecondary education for individuals with intellectual disabilities, by allowing for reasonable substitution for admission and graduation requirements. Repeals the Florida Business and Education Collaborative and the University Concurrency Trust Fund. http://www.myfloridahouse.gov/Sections/Documents/loaddoc.aspx?FileName=_h7151er.docx&DocumentType=Bill&BillNumber=7151&Session=2011 Title: H.B. 7151 Source: http://www.myfloridahouse.gov TX Signed into law 06/2011 P-12 Postsec. Requires that minimum academic qualifications for an educator certificate that requires a bachelor degree to require instruction in detection and education of students with dyslexia. Provides this does not apply to an individual obtaining a certificate through an alternative certification program. Requires continuing education requirements for an educator who teaches students with dyslexia to include training on new research and practices in educating students with dyslexia; provides this training may be offered in an online course. Specifies that unless otherwise provided by law, a K-12 or postsecondary student determined to have dyslexia during a dyslexia screening may not be retested for dyslexia for the purpose of reassessing the student's need for accommodations until the district or institution of higher education reevaluates the information obtained from previous testing of the student. Directs the Texas Education Agency to establish a committee to develop a plan for integrating technology into the classroom to help accommodate students with dyslexia. http://www.legis.state.tx.us/tlodocs/82R/billtext/pdf/SB00866F.pdf#navpanes=0 Title: S.B. 866 Source: www.legis.state.tx.us NH Signed into law 05/2011 Postsec. Authorizes the labor commissioner to establish a practical experience/training program for individuals with disabilities upon application by a proper post-secondary organization or rehabilitation facility. Allows the labor commissioner to establish a sub-minimum wage rate or no wage rate for such programs and specifies that no existing or laid-off workers be replaced by individuals with disabilities enrolled in the program. http://www.gencourt.state.nh.us/legislation/2011/HB0401.html Title: H.B. 401 Source: www.gencourt.state.nh.us NY Signed into law 07/2010 Postsec. From bill analysis: Extends the expiration date of a provision that requires publishers or manufacturers to provide additional instructional material for college students with disabilities, for an additional 3 years. http://assembly.state.ny.us/leg/?default_fld=&bn=A10118&Summary=Y&Actions=Y&Memo=Y&Text=Y Title: A.B. 10118 Source: assembly.state.ny.us IL Signed into law 08/2007 Postsec. Creates the Information Technology Access Act. Requires the department of human Services to convene an advisory working group to develop accessibility standards for electronic and information technology for state entities so that persons with disabilities may access the technology. Redefines state entity to remove other instrumentalities and specifically exclude units of local government, school districts, and community colleges (although public universities are included in definition of "state entity"). http://www.ilga.gov/legislation/95/SB/PDF/09500SB0511lv.pdf Title: S.B. 511 Source: Lexis-Nexis/StateNet NY Signed into law 07/2007 Postsec. Establishes a statewide advisory council regarding instructional materials for college students with disabilities. Provides that the advisory council will provide input into policy development, program guidelines and implementation strategies. http://assembly.state.ny.us/leg/?bn=S05476&sh=t Title: S.B. 5476 Source: assembly.state.ny.us GA Signed into law 05/2007 P-12 Postsec. Creates a Joint Study Committee on Continuing Education and Collegiate Sports Programs for Students with Disabilities. Directs the committee to undertake a study of what alternatives are open to the general assembly to identify and create opportunities for student athletes with disabilities at the collegiate level and explore the development of pilot programs, recruitment of athletes, and nonprofit and private sector support for different collegiate programs. Also directs the committee to explore current high school, community, and collegiate sports programs and facilities. http://www.legis.state.ga.us/legis/2007_08/pdf/hr322.pdf Title: H.R. 322 Source: www.legis.state.ga.us NM Signed into law 03/2007 Postsec. Community College Creates the students with disabilities scholarship act; defines a student with disabilities as a student who has a record of a physical or mental condition that substantially limits one or more major life activities, including attention deficit disorder or other specific learning disabilities that the Higher Education Department recognizes as disabilities. Creates the Students with Disabilities Scholarship Fund. http://legis.state.nm.us/Sessions/07%20Regular/final/HB0518.pdf http://legis.state.nm.us/Sessions/07%20Regular/final/SB0537.pdf Title: H.B. 518/S.B. 537 Source: http://legis.state.nm.us NM Signed into law 03/2007 Postsec. Community College Extends time that students with disabilities can be defined as full time for purposes of eligibility for state lottery scholarship program. http://legis.state.nm.us/Sessions/07%20Regular/final/SB0689.pdf Title: S.B. 689 Source: http://legis.state.nm.us VT Signed into law 05/2006 P-12 Postsec. Relates to coverage of disabled adult children and college students on medical leave; requires a health insurance plan that covers dependent children who are full-time college students beyond the age of 18 to include coverage for a dependent's medically necessary leave of absence from school for a period not to exceed 24 months; establishes a committee to study issues related to continuing health insurance eligibility for spouses following divorce and for young adult children. http://www.leg.state.vt.us/docs/legdoc.cfm?URL=/docs/2006/acts/ACT199.HTM Title: S.B. 285 Source: Lexis-Nexis/StateNet VT Signed into law 05/2006 Postsec. Community College Relates to services for transitional youth; increases the age at which a child may be adjudicated in need of care and supervision; provides that the agency of human services, in consultation with the department of education, shall analyze current law and regulation regarding Medicaid eligibility for young adults ages 18-22. http://www.leg.state.vt.us/docs/legdoc.cfm?URL=/docs/2006/acts/ACT159.HTM Title: H.B. 618 Source: Lexis-Nexis/StateNet MD Signed into law 04/2006 Community College Postsec. Requires the Maryland Higher Education Commission to establish and administer a grant program for supplemental services and supports for students with disabilities in community colleges; provides for the purpose of the grant program; requires the Commission, in cooperation with the Department of Disabilities, to establish a competitive review process and adopt guidelines or regulations for the administration of the grant program. http://mlis.state.md.us/2006rs/bills/hb/hb1681t.pdf Title: H.B. 1681 Source: Maryland Legislature MD (S) THIRD READING PASSED WITH AMENDMENTS (44-2) 04/2005 Community College Postsec. Establishing the Community College Students with Disabilities Task Force; providing for the membership and staffing of the Task Force; requiring the Task Force to report its findings by December 1, 2005; and providing for the termination of the Act http://mlis.state.md.us/2005rs/billfile/hb1236.htm Title: H.B. 1236 Source: StateNet MI Signed into law 09/2004 Community College Postsec. Provides community and junior colleges appropriations for fiscal year 2005; provides for community college-level learning disabled students and students who require English as a second language assistance (at-risk students). Requires grant funding to be used to address the special needs of at-risk students or for equipment or upgrade of information technology hardware or software. Activities related to services provided to at-risk students include, but are not limited to, pretesting for academic ability, counseling contacts, and special programs. Equipment or information technology hardware or software purchased under this section need not be associated with the operation of a program designed to address the needs of at-risk students. Title: S.B. 1062 Source: StateNet MD Signed into law 04/2004 Postsec. Community College Alters the requirements for exemption from payment of tuition at community colleges for specified individuals; relates to disabled persons or persons receiving retirement benefits under Social Security or the Railroad Retirement Act. http://mlis.state.md.us/2004rs/bills/hb/hb0322e.rtf Title: H.B. 322 Source: http://mlis.state.md.us/2004rs/bills/hb/hb0322e.rtf WA Signed into law 03/2004 Postsec. Regards instructional materials for students with disabilities at public and private institutions of higher education; requires publishers and manufacturers of instructional materials to provide such in electronic format agreed upon by the publisher or manufacturer and the institution of higher education. Title: S.B. 6501 Source: StateNet CA Signed into law 10/2003 Postsec. Declares the Legislature intended to apply existing provisions requiring compliance with the accessibility requirements of the federal Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and its implementing regulations for improving accessibility of persons with disabilities to electronic or information technology to the California State University. Requires the university to consider certain factors in developing or procuring such technology to include required access to handicapped persons. http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/pub/bill/sen/sb_0301-0350/sb_302_bill_20031011_chaptered.html Title: S.B. 302 Source: California Legislative Web site NY Signed into law 07/2003 Postsec. Requires publishers and manufacturers of instructional materials for students to provide electronic copies of such material for use by disabled persons. Title: S.B. 3306 Source: StateNet NV Signed into law 06/2003 P-12 Postsec. Establishes the Legislative Committee on Persons with Disabilities; requiring the Department of Human Resources to submit certain reports to the Committee; requires the committee to conduct a study for the purpose of establishing an Interagency Transition Plan concerning the transition from school to work for pupils with disabilities, and to facilitate the use of service animals; studies nursing care and intermediate care facilities. Title: S.B. 137 Source: StateNet NV Signed into law 05/2003 Postsec. Requires publisher or manufacturer of instructional materials to provide electronic version of such materials for use by university or college students, staff or faculty with print access disabilities who are unable to use standard instructional materials. (BDR 34-114) Title: S.B. 62 Source: StateNet NM Signed into law 04/2003 P-12 Postsec. Relates to education; provides for accessible electronic formats for individuals with disabilities enrolled in distance learning courses of study and using computer-based instructional materials. http://legis.state.nm.us/Sessions/03%20Regular/FinalVersions/house/HB0708.html Title: H.B. 708 Source: StateNet NJ Signed into law 12/2002 Postsec. Allows students at institutions of higher education who are hearing and visually impaired of learning disabled to be eligible for reasonable substitution of specific courses required for the completion of degree requirements. Title: S.B. 106 Source: StateNet GA Signed into law 05/2002 P-12 Postsec. States that colleges and universities in this state have made diligent efforts to accommodate the needs of students with disabilities requiring alternative formats for textbooks and other printed instructional materials used in postsecondary courses of study, but that colleges and universities are confronted with many practical problems in obtaining or producing these texts in alternative formats. Practical problems in obtaining these texts in alternative formats include the wide variety of texts used in postsecondary courses of study, a lack of bargaining power with publishers of postsecondary textbooks in comparison with publishers of textbooks for elementary and secondary education, and hesitation among postsecondary institutions to share alternative formats because of concern about copyright law. Practical problems in producing such materials in alternative formats include the labor intensive and technical nature of the work, the frequent need for expertise in the subject matter of the texts, and the expense and time required for production. The General Assembly further finds that students with disabilities, colleges, universities, and publishers would benefit from cooperative development of a system for sharing those texts produced in alternative formats while adequately protecting the intellectual property rights of publishers. Amend code relating respectively to postsecondary education and vocational, technical, and adult education, so as to provide that each publisher of a textbook shall provide an electronic format of such textbook. http://www.legis.state.ga.us/Legis/2001_02/fulltext/hb1342.htm Title: H.B. 1342 Source: http://www.state.ga.us/legis IN Signed into law 03/2002 P-12 Postsec. Requires the Director of the Division of Special Education to coordinate an interagency task force to review services and funding sources available for children and young adults with disabilities and their families. Title: S.B. 290 Source: Lexis-Nexis/StateNet KY Signed into law 03/2002 Postsec. Replaces the membership of the Council on Postsecondary Education on the Developmental Disabilities Council with a single member of a nongovernmental agency and private nonprofit groups concerned with services for persons with developmental disabilities. Title: S.B. 131 Source: Lexis-Nexis/StateNet SD Signed into law 02/2001 Postsec. Revises the rehabilitation services provided at public cost to disabled and visually impaired persons based on economic need to include postsecondary tuition and fees. Title: H.B. 1030 Source: Lexis-Nexis/StateNet CA Vetoed 09/2000 P-12 Postsec. Requires instruction in braille to be provided to each pupil who is functionally blind unless the individualized education program team determines that braille instruction is not appropriate based upon the assessments. Title: A.B. 609 Source: Lexis-Nexis/StateNet RI Became law without GOVERNOR'S signature 07/2000 Postsec. Amends the composition of the Transition Council by adding a representative from one of the regional education collaboratives.Transition from school to self-sufficient adulthood for students with disabilities Title: H.B. 7466 Source: Lexis-Nexis/StateNet OK Signed into law 04/2000 Postsec. Ensures that all students with disabilities enrolled in institutions in The Oklahoma State System of Higher Education be afforded the opportunities to succeed; encourages the state institutions of higher education to communicate to all manufacturers and publishers of required or essential instructional materials that such materials should be provided in a digital electronic format in a timely manner to fit course schedules, and at no additional cost to the institutions. Title: H.B. 2586 Source: Legislative Review, Oklahoma KY Signed into law 03/2000 Postsec. Requires that each postsecondary education institution with residence facilities have housing and security policies that assure disabled students a safe environment in which to live and study; provides for an appeals process; requires maintenance of a list of students with disabilities to assure safety of such students during an emergency. Title: H.B. 321 Source: Lexis-Nexis/StateNet