This essay is excerpted from a new Chronicle special report, “The Accessible Campus,” available in the Chronicle Store.
For more than 30 years, a movement has been underway in the United States to create campus programs for students with intellectual disabilities to pursue higher education and reap learning and career benefits like everyone else. In the spring of 2023, that movement achieved a major milestone with the creation of a new accrediting agency for intellectual-disabilities programs and the accreditation of its first program.
That might not seem like big news given how commonplace accreditation is. But that’s precisely the point: The incorporation in April of the Inclusive Higher Education Accreditation Council is a huge step forward for postsecondary academic programs that serve students with intellectual disabilities, who are, historically, among the most excluded from higher education.
Who are these students? Federal law defines an ID student as someone with a cognitive impairment that, as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention puts it, “limits a person’s ability to learn at an expected level and function in daily life. … Some of the most common known causes of intellectual disability — like Down syndrome, fetal alcohol syndrome, fragile X syndrome, genetic conditions, birth defects, and infections — happen before birth.”
As coordinator of the Think College National Coordinating Center, I have had a front-row seat to the exciting growth of these college programs and the impact they are having on young adults with intellectual disabilities.
While several federal laws helped to significantly increase the percentage of students with disabilities attending college, for a long time, those with intellectual disabilities were still largely left behind. That was due, in part, to a belief that such students may not belong in college and would gain little from higher education.
However, the ID movement is proving that, with the right support and high expectations, these students can thrive in college, find meaningful jobs after graduation, and make lifelong friends. Entering through an alternative admissions process, students in these programs work toward general-studies certificates in “career studies” or credentials specific to certain professions like child care or culinary arts. Graduates have significantly better employment outcomes and are more likely to live independently than people with ID who do not attend college.
So while it’s well-documented that these programs make a difference in students’ lives, accreditation marks another critical quality indicator and achieves two important goals. First, it provides a standards-based way for colleges to demonstrate that they are providing a high-quality program. Without accreditation, students (and their families) have no way of knowing if a program holds itself to any predefined standards. Second, when certificate programs for students with ID are accredited, those programs are validated within the higher-education space.
The creation of an accreditor for ID programs has been a goal for this field since 2010, when work began to establish standards and a process. It is a critical next step as the field continues to grow and mature. Today, there are 317 nondegree ID programs at U.S. colleges and universities, with an average total enrollment of 8,000 students in any given year, compared with just 25 programs available in 2004.
A work group at Think College developed, refined, and field-tested 38 accrediting standards in 10 areas. Among the standards required of accredited ID programs:
- Provide individualized support to students.
- Create meaningful opportunities for academic, social, and career growth.
- Offer students access to campus resources, facilities, and services equal to that of other students at the institution.
- Focus on student outcomes in employment and increased self-determination and independence.
The future is bright for this field. New areas of focus include:
- Increasing the number of program options in each state.
- Creating state and regional alliances.
- Developing pathways to and through a postsecondary career, and technical training for students with ID.
- Improving the funding supports available to help students pay for the cost of attendance.
Much more work needs to be done. Yes, nearly 320 colleges accept students with ID now, but this country has more than 4,000 colleges and universities. More institutions need to get involved in this movement that is changing the lives of young people with and without disabilities. Only 2 percent of school-age students with intellectual disabilities will go to college, but there are tens of thousands who would benefit from the chance to continue their education after high school.
If your institution is looking to join the list of institutions that offer a program for students with ID, here are five actions you can take right now:
- Identify how an ID program on your campus would serve the institutional mission related to diversity, equity, and inclusion.
- Find champions within your administration who will support development of a program that reaches a new group of underserved students.
- Engage with your community and involve interested students, families, and educators to help with program design.
- Reach out to other institutions that are offering a similar program to learn about the benefits and challenges.
- Utilize the free resources and technical assistance that Think College provides to support every step in the program-development process.
Ultimately, our aim is for every student with intellectual disabilities who wants to continue their education after high school to be able to attend college or university, and be supported in a high-quality program to prepare for a meaningful career.
