Federal Student Aid

This resource shares the relevant sections of the Higher Education Act regulations and information from the US Department of Education, Office of Postsecondary Education website related to the definition of intellectual disability, related statutory language and more information about the definition of ID used in the Higher Education Act.  This information should guide programs as they determine how to document intellectual disability for students to be eligible to participate in a TPSID model demonstration program or to be eligible for federal student aid when attending

This Insight Brief discusses how students with intellectual disability can utilize federal financial aid to help pay for college. This publication was updated in 2025 to reflect current legislation and policy related to federal financial aid for students with intellectual disabilities. Links to relevant resources with the most current information were added. 

A plain language version of this document is available here.

 Lindsay Wertenberger from Federal Student Aid at the U.S. Department of Education explains the process for applying to become a CTP program in the webinar recorded in January 2020.

 Attached to this resource is the webinar recording, transcript, and PowerPoint presentation.