Preparing for College

This webinar is for families who are considering college options for their child with ID and are embarking on the application process. As exciting as the prospects are, there is a lot that goes into assembling the necessary materials for the college application: references from employers, friends, teachers, and more; photos; letters of support from those your child’s network; academic records; and more. Additionally, items needed for the application package may vary greatly for higher education programs for students with ID.

This webinar, hosted by Georgia Inclusive Postsecondary Education Consortium, was part of a webinar series for parents experiencing the transition from high school to college with their children with intellectual and developmental disabilities.

 This guide offers basic considerations for starting the college search, as well as helpful tips. It also includes key questions to ask staff from college programs, covering topics such as academics, employment and student supports, housing, financial aid, and the overall campus and community experience, with room to add questions of your own.

This publication features tons of helpful advice for students who are ready to begin the college search. Madison, Kaethe, Maria, George, and Santi are former college students who share honest stories and things to think about when considering college, such as the location and size of the college, making good choices, social opportunities & peer mentors, being included, and more.

The college search process can be grueling. It is an emotional time, when your student is ready to exit high school and try something new. IN addition to all the considerations necessary for anyone to prepare for college, families of children with ID have a whole list of OTHER things to keep in mind when preparing for college: what supports will be available? How will we pay for it? How inclusive is the program? What will this experience prepare my child for?

This guide, thoughtfully developed by The Boggs Center on Developmental Disabilities at Rutgers University, is designed for students with intellectual and developmental disabilities to choose a college that's right for them. There are 4 main categories ("Gold Medal Categories") that represent really important features of a college program, and the guide goes on to describes the characteristics of each category. Then the student has space to answer some questions about what he or she wants, considering those Gold Medal categories.

This guide was developed by the Think College Transition team to help teachers, families, and students prepare for college. Common college accommodations are explained as well as the steps to getting them.

This guide was created by the Think College Transition team to help teachers, families, and students prepare for college. It discusses the need to plan for the ways that higher education will be different from high school, including higher academic expectations, increasing independence, and new social environments.

This resource is available in English and Spanish. Click here to view the Spanish language listing for this resource.

This guide for students was created to accompany Navigating the Transition from High School to College for Students with Disabilities, a book published by Routledge. This stand-alone resource for students includes testimony from students with disabilities about considerations when planning for college, how to pick a school that’s right for you, how to advocate for yourself, and more.

Get Ready for College: A Resource for Teens with Disabilities is a free virtual course for high school students and others who have an interest in learning about the transition to college. It was developed by the Center on Transition at Virginia Commonwealth University and features a series of lessons focusing on a different aspect in the college preparation, selection, and disability services process. If students with ID/DD are accessing the course, we recommend that it be facilitated, as piloting of the tool showed that to be helpful to reinforce the content.