Prospective StudentsAcademic Support Center

Differences Between High School and College

The Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA), the Americans with Disabilities Act Amendments Act of 2008 (ADAAA) and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 are civil rights laws prohibiting discrimination solely on the basis of a disability. Section 504 states that any entities who receive federal financial funds are not allowed to discriminate against individuals with disabilities. Postsecondary students are covered specifically by Section 504 at colleges that receive federal financial funds. However, services in college may not be what the high school offered. Coverage is different according to the law.

IDEA-High School	Section 504-College
Multidisciplinary Teams.	Prohibits discrimination on the basis of a disability.
Psychoeducational testing provided through the school.	Students are encouraged to provide written information regarding their disability. Decisions about the need for additional information will be made after Gustavus staff and the student have an initial meeting.
Eligibility in one or more of 13 specific disability categories.	Any person who has a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one of life’s major activities i.e.-walking, seeing, hearing, speaking, breathing, learning and others, can receive accommodations.
Requires an Individual Educational Program (IEP).	Reasonable accommodations, as determined by the accessibility resources staff or the College, must be provided for all students who have a disability, request accommodations, and register with accessibility resources.
It is up to the school to identify and test individuals who qualify for special education.	The student must declare a disability, request reasonable accommodations, and work with accessibility resources and the faculty.
The multidisciplinary team is responsible for yearly IEP meetings, monitoring student progress through goals and objectives, and monitoring student progress.	Accommodations cannot require faculty to fundamentally alter the nature of their course or the college to fundamentally alter program requirements. However, colleges are required to provide accommodations that the student is qualified to receive through documentation of his or her disability, as determined by the Accessibility Resources Coordinator or the college.