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More students with intellectual and developmental disability (IDD) are attending post-secondary education than ever before. As more students with IDD enter college, inclusive post-secondary education programs (IPSE) will be required to make important decisions about the types of services and supports they provide. IPSE program staff should aim to provide supports and services that honor students’ dignity of risk and facilitate opportunities for students to take risks.

This legislation, enacted in July 2022, includes provisions that remove barriers precluding persons with intellectual disabilties (ID) and autism from participating in state colleges and universities.

One important aspect of program development is to create a program budget reflecting anticipated expenses and program income.  These proforma budget examples are provided to assist programs in developing their own budget. Examples for both a university program and a community college program have been provided by IN: Pathways to Inclusive Higher Education (Colorado), and LeadLearnLive (Oklahoma) provides a university example. 

How are youth with intellectual disability and autism preparing for postsecondary education and employment? In this recorded presentation, Think College staff, Meg Grigal and Clare Papay, share findings from the Institute of Education Sciences funded Moving Transition Forward project. The featured study analyzed data from the National Longitudinal Transition Study 2012 to examine the college and employment preparation activities of youth with intellectual disability and autism. Results provide useful and actionable strategies to improve practice in secondary transition.

Introduced several times since 2018, but not passed, this legislation removes several obstacles to enrollment in inclusive postsecondary education and expands inclusive higher education opportunities throughout Massachusetts. Specifically, Massachusetts students with intellectual and developmental disabilities would no longer have to do the following to take part in inclusive undergraduate courses:

This infographic provides a picture of inclusive postsecondary education for students with intellectual and developmental disabilities in Florida. It shares information on scholarships, a map and contact information for 19 inclusive college programs across Florida, and some answers to common questions families and students ask. It was created by the Florida Center for Students with Unique Abilities and is available in English and Spanish.

This bill, passed in 2022, establishes scholarships (College Transition Program Scholarship) for students with intellectual disability (ID) attending a CTP inclusive postsecondary program. In-state students may receive up to $5,000/semester in scholarship money, regardless of financial need. Similar to prior years, the state budget also includes needs-based funds for students with ID.

This legislation, passed in March 2022, provides $2,000,000 for the Governor’s Higher Education Transition Scholarship Program, to assist students accepted into transitional programs for students with intellectual and/or developmental disabilities at state institutions of higher education. The provisions of this section shall be in effect only from July 1, 2022 through June 30, 2023.

Mentors are often used to support students with intellectual disability as they transition to college. They are typically other college students who assist with academics, adjusting to college life, connect these new college students to campus clubs, organizations, and services, and support them to engage in campus activities. Such mentor models are as diverse as the institutions in which the students are enrolled.

This document was created in 2022 to provide an overview of the priorities for the Think College Inclusive Higher Education Network. As outlined here, this new project will focus on developing and supporting regional alliances for inclusive higher education, a public awareness campaign to increase awareness about inclusive higher education, workgroups on employment partnerships and career and technical education, and training and technical assistance.