How students with learning differences can offset the cuts
We’re all struggling to understand what exactly the federal cuts to Department of Education funding will mean for college students learning differences and other disabilities.
About 1 in 5 US undergrads has a disability. That’s tens of thousands of students who rely on services like note-taking assistance, extended test time, accessible course materials and other supports.
The Office for Civil Rights was especially hard hit, meaning it will be more difficult to file complaints if schools flout regulations that require them to support students.
Here’s some of the things you should think about if you’re a student with learning differences heading to college this fall (or are already there).
🛠️ Step 1: Keep a paper trail
When enforcement slows, documentation becomes critical. Make sure to keep:
The who, what, and when of your accommodation requests
Emails from professors or staff
Any delays or denials—and the academic fallout that followed
Back it all up using tools like cloud storage, local copies, printed folders—whatever it takes. If your complaint ends up in the OCR void, you’ll have this.
🧑🤝🧑 Step 2: Build out your support system
If you do need to file a discrimination complaint, it might drag out. Build a support system to keep you going if things get tough.
Meet your disability services office and understand how they handle complaints
Find allies among faculty who get accommodations
Link up with campus advocacy groups, or start your own if there’s nothing that works
Locate your state’s protection and advocacy org
Join online spaces where students swap tips and strategies like battle plans
📚 Step 3: Get to know the laws
Here’s the good news: The laws didn’t change—just the enforcement. That means you’ve still got rights under:
ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act)
Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act
State laws that may have sharper teeth than federal ones
If OCR’s response time is abysmal, you can also try:
Your state’s civil rights commission
The Department of Justice’s ADA portal
Legal aid orgs with a disability rights focus
Campus legal services
🛡️ Step 4: Be proactive
You are your own best advocate. Here’s how to set yourself up for success before the semester even begins:
Submit accommodation requests weeks early
Meet each professor face-to-face (or Zoom-to-Zoom)
Deliver your accommodation letters early and confirm in writing
Follow up.
Keep checking with disability services to make sure your file hasn’t fallen into the void
📦 Step 5: Make sure you have backup plans
If things get rough, make sure you have fallback ideas:
Know how medical withdrawals work (and how they impact aid)
Ask about part-time enrollment for more flexibility
Consider tech tools like lecture recorders or captioning software
Build a small circle of trusted allies to attend meetings with you
🔥 Step 6: Understand your options
If your school drops the ball, you do have steps you can take:
Start with the disability services office
Move to the dean of students
Loop in the ADA compliance officer
Knock on the university’s legal department
File with OCR (even if they’re swamped)
Call your congressional reps
As a last resort: contact a lawyer
The squeaky wheel gets the accommodations.
Hang in there
I won’t lie—this moment is a mess. If you’ve got learning differences, it can feel like the system is sometimes actively working against you right now.
But here’s the thing: you’ve already navigated a world not built for you and made it to college. That’s quite the feat!
Now it’s time to meet this new challenge, as much as it doesn’t seem fair.
Use every tool, resource and ally like you're assembling your own academic team of superheros. Tap your network, stack receipts, get scrappy. You don’t need to do this alone—but you do need to do it to get what you need for school.
Because your degree? It won’t just be a piece of paper. It’ll be proof you outsmarted a system that underestimated you.
Looking for help with any part of the college admissions journey? Reach out to Inclusive Admissions.