1	Higher Education's Obligations Under Section 504 and Titles II and III of the ADA Robert Mather Senior Trial Attorney U.S. Department of Justice Disability Rights Section
2	Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 prohibits discrimination on the basis of physical or mental disability (29 U.S.C. Section 794).
3	Section 504 Federally Assisted Programs The Section 504 regulation applies to all recipients of this funding, including colleges, universities, and postsecondary vocational education and adult education programs.
4	Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 prohibits state and local governments from discriminating on the basis of disability.
5	Title III of the Americans with Disabilities Act Title III of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 prohibits places of public accommodations from discriminating on the basis of disability. It applies to private postsecondary programs.
6	Postsecondary School Provision of Auxiliary Aids The requirements regarding the provision of auxiliary aids and services in higher education institutions described in the Section 504 regulation are generally included in the general nondiscrimination provisions of the Title II regulation.
7	Section 504 Provision of Auxiliary Aids The Section 504 regulation contains the following requirement relating to a postsecondary school's obligation to provide auxiliary aids to qualified students who have disabilities: A recipient . . . shall take such steps as are necessary to ensure that no handicapped student is denied the benefits of, excluded from participation in, or otherwise subjected to discrimination under the education program or activity operated by the recipient because of the absence of educational auxiliary aids for students with impaired sensory, manual, or speaking skills.
8	Title II Provision of Auxiliary Aids The Title II regulation states: A public entity shall furnish appropriate auxiliary aids and services where necessary to afford an individual with a disability an equal opportunity to participate in, and enjoy the benefits of, a service, program, or activity conducted by a public entity.
9	"It is," It is, therefore, the school's responsibility to provide these auxiliary aids and services in a timely manner to ensure effective participation by students with disabilities. If students are being evaluated to determine their eligibility under Section 504 or the ADA, the recipient must provide auxiliary aids in the interim.
10	Postsecondary Student Responsibilities A postsecondary student with a disability who is in need of auxiliary aids is obligated to provide notice of the nature of the disabling condition to the college and to assist it in identifying appropriate and effective auxiliary aids.
11	Postsecondary Student Responsibilities (cont’d) In postsecondary schools, the students themselves must identify the need for an auxiliary aid and give adequate notice of the need.
12	Postsecondary Student Responsibilities (cont’d) The student's notification should be provided to the appropriate representative of the college who, depending upon the nature and scope of the request, could be the school's Section 504 or ADA coordinator, an appropriate dean, a faculty advisor, or a professor.
13	Postsecondary Student Responsibilities (cont’d) Colleges may ask the student, in response to a request for auxiliary aids, to provide supporting diagnostic test results and professional prescriptions for auxiliary aids. A college also may obtain its own professional determination of whether specific requested auxiliary aids are necessary.
14	Examples of Auxiliary Aids
15	Technological Advances Technological advances in electronics have improved vastly participation by students with disabilities in educational activities.
16	Technological Advances (cont’d) Colleges are not required to provide the most sophisticated auxiliary aids available; however, the aids provided must effectively meet the needs of a student with a disability.
17	Technological Advances (cont’d) An institution has flexibility in choosing the specific aid or service it provides to the student, as long as the aid or service selected is effective. These aids should be selected after consultation with the student who will use them.
18	Effectiveness of Auxiliary Aids No aid or service will be useful unless it is successful in equalizing the opportunity for a particular student with a disability to participate in the education program or activity. Not all students with a similar disability benefit equally from an identical auxiliary aid or service.
19	What Does the Rule Say? The regulation refers to this complex issue of effectiveness in several sections, including: Auxiliary aids may include taped texts, interpreters or other effective methods of making orally delivered materials available to students with hearing impairments, readers in libraries for students with visual impairments, classroom equipment adapted for use by students with manual impairments, and other similar services and actions.
20	What Does the Rule Actually Say? There are other references to effectiveness in the general provisions of the Section 504 regulation which state, in part, that a recipient may not provide a qualified handicapped person with an aid, benefit, or service that is not as effective as that provided to others.
21	What Does the Rule Actually Say? (cont’d) A recipient may not provide different or separate aid, benefits, or services to handicapped persons or to any class of handicapped persons unless such action is necessary to provide qualified handicapped persons with aid, benefits, or services that are as effective as those provided to others. The Title II regulation contains comparable provisions.
22	Determining the Appropriateness of an Aid The institution must analyze the appropriateness of an aid or service in its specific context. For example, the type of assistance needed in a classroom by a student who is deaf or hard of hearing may vary, depending upon whether the format is a large lecture hall or a seminar.
23	Determining the Appropriateness of an Aid (cont’d) With the one-way communication of a lecture, the service of a notetaker may be adequate, but in the two-way communication of a seminar, an interpreter may be needed.
24	Determining the Appropriateness of an Aid (cont’d) College officials also should be aware that in determining what types of auxiliary aids and services are necessary under Title II of the ADA, the institution must give primary consideration to the requests of individuals with disabilities.
25	Cost of Auxiliary Aids Postsecondary schools receiving federal financial assistance must provide effective auxiliary aids to students who are disabled. If an aid is necessary for classroom or other appropriate (nonpersonal) use, the institution must make it available, unless provision of the aid would cause undue burden.
26	Cost of Auxiliary Aids (cont’d) A student with a disability may not be required to pay part or all of the costs of that aid or service. An institution may not limit what it spends for auxiliary aids or services or refuse to provide auxiliary aids because it believes that other providers of these services exist, or condition its provision of auxiliary aids on availability of funds.
27	Cost of Auxiliary Aids (cont’d) In many cases, an institution may meet its obligation to provide auxiliary aids by assisting the student in obtaining the aid or obtaining reimbursement for the cost of an aid from an outside agency or organization, such as a state rehabilitation agency or a private charitable organization. However, the institution remains responsible for providing the aid.
28	Personal Aids and Services An issue that is often misunderstood by postsecondary officials and students is the provision of personal aids and services. Personal aids and services, including help in bathing, dressing, or other personal care, are not required to be provided by postsecondary institutions.
29	Personal Aids and Services (cont’d) The Section 504 regulation states: Recipients need not provide attendants, individually prescribed devices, readers for personal use or study, or other devices or services of a personal nature. Title II of the ADA similarly states that personal services are not required.
30	Questions Commonly Asked by Postsecondary Schools and Their Students
31	Q: What are a college's obligations to provide auxiliary aids for library study? A: Libraries and some of their significant and basic materials must be made accessible by the recipient to students with disabilities.
32	Q: What are a college's obligations to provide auxiliary aids for library study? (cont’d) Students with disabilities must have the appropriate auxiliary aids needed to locate and obtain library resources.
33	Q: What are a college's obligations to provide auxiliary aids for library study? (cont’d) The college library's basic index of holdings (whether formatted on-line or on index cards) must be accessible. For example, a screen and keyboard (or card file) must be placed within reach of a student using a wheelchair. If a Braille index of holdings is not available for blind students, readers must be provided for necessary assistance.
34	Q: What are a college's obligations to provide auxiliary aids for library study? (cont’d) Articles and materials that are library holdings and are required for course work must be accessible to all students enrolled in that course. This means that if material is required for the class, then its text must be read for a blind student or provided in Braille or on tape. A student's actual study time and use of these articles are considered personal study time and the institution has no further obligation to provide additional auxiliary aids.
35	Q: What if an instructor objects to the use of an auxiliary or personal aid? A: Sometimes postsecondary instructors may not be familiar with Section 504 or ADA requirements regarding the use of an auxiliary or personal aid in their classrooms. Most often, questions arise when a student uses a tape recorder. College teachers may believe recording lectures is an infringement upon their own or other students' academic freedom, or constitutes copyright violation.
36	Q: What if an instructor objects to the use of an auxiliary or personal aid? (cont’d) A: The instructor may not forbid a student's use of an aid if that prohibition limits the student's participation in the school program. recipient's education program or activity.
37	Q: What if an instructor objects to the use of an auxiliary or personal aid? (cont’d) . The Section 504 regulation states: A recipient may not impose upon handicapped students other rules, such as the prohibition of tape recorders in classrooms or of dog guides in campus buildings, that have the effect of limiting the participation of handicapped students in the recipient's education program or activity.
38	Q: What if an instructor objects to the use of an auxiliary or personal aid? (cont’d) A: In order to allow a student with a disability the use of an effective aid and, at the same time, protect the instructor, the institution may require the student to sign an agreement so as not to infringe on a potential copyright or to limit freedom of speech.
39	Q: What if students with disabilities require auxiliary aids during an examination?
40	"A:" A: A student may need an auxiliary aid or service in order to successfully complete a course exam. This may mean that a student be allowed to give oral rather than written answers. It also may be possible for a student to present a tape containing the oral examination response. A test should ultimately measure a student's achievements and not the extent of the disability.
41	Q: Can postsecondary institutions treat a foreign student with disabilities who needs auxiliary aids differently than American students?
42	"A:" A: No, an institution may not treat a foreign student who needs auxiliary aids differently than an American student. A postsecondary institution must provide to a foreign student with a disability the same type of auxiliary aids and services it would provide to an American student with a disability. Section 504 and the ADA require that the provision of services be based on a student's disability and not on such other criteria as nationality.
43	Q: Are institutions responsible for providing auxiliary services to disabled students in filling out financial aid and student employment applications, or other forms of necessary paperwork?
44	"A:" A: Yes, an institution must provide services to disabled students who may need assistance in filling out aid applications or other forms. If the student requesting assistance is still in the process of being evaluated to determine eligibility for an auxiliary aid or service, help with this paperwork by the institution is mandated in the interim.
45	Q: Does a postsecondary institution have to provide auxiliary aids and services for a nondegree student? A: Yes, students with disabilities who are auditing classes or who otherwise are not working for a degree must be provided auxiliary aids and services to the same extent as students who are in a degree-granting program.
46	The U.S. Department of Education The Office for Civil Rights in the U.S. Department of Education enforces regulations implementing Section 504 with respect to programs and activities that receive funding from the Department.
47	FOR MORE INFORMATION For more information on Section 504 and the ADA and their application to auxiliary aids and services for disabled students in postsecondary schools, or to obtain additional assistance, see the list of OCR's 12 enforcement offices containing the address and telephone number for the office that serves your area, or call 1-800-421-3481.