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Guidance counsellors have an important duty to help graduating seniors identify colleges to which they want to apply for admission and help them and their families identify financial sources of support
Many students follow the rule of thumb of applying to two colleges that are considered ‘reach schools’, 2 colleges that the applicant has a 50/50 chance at being admitted, and finally 2 ‘safety schools’ where the student is fairly certain he or she will be admitted. The next step is to help the family complete the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA). As long as the student is enrolled full-time in a degree bearing programme at an accredited college, then process is fairly straight forward. Depending upon the family income and a number of other factors, the student may be eligible for grants, student work study monies,and subsidised student loans.
However, every year guidance counsellors are faced with advising students who do not fit this mould. Many of these students have intellectual disabilities and are students involved in the special education system. Guidance counsellors know the importance of post-secondary education or vocational training. Education is positively correlated with employment. The more education or job training an individual receives, the more likely he or she is to be employed. Should he or she lose a job, then his or her periods of unemployment are shorter than someone with less education or training. Finally, more education and training leads to higher salaries. However, many special education students with intellectual disabilities are unable to enrol full-time in a degree bearing college at an accredited college. Consequently, the student with intellectual disabilities has historically not been eligible to complete the FAFSA and receive financial aid to continue their education. What is a guidance counsellor supposed to tell this student and his or her family?
One serious discussion the guidance counsellor should have with the student and his or her family is possibly delaying the receipt of his or her high school diploma. Under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) local educational agencies (LEA), namely the school districts, are responsible for a student with a disability’s education until he or she has his or her high school degree conferred or through the student’s 21st birthday. If one of these conditions is met, then the LEA is no longer responsible for educating the student. Funding for the student’s education ends under IDEA. The guidance counsellor will have to potentially refer the student and family to a state office of vocational and rehabilitative services or a state office of developmental disabilities for financial support of a student’s post-secondary education or job training. A point to discuss with the family is whether or not the student has reached all goals on his or her Individualized Education Plan (IEP). Although some educators erroneously believe that their job is done once a student can read, write and do maths calculations at an acceptable level or have passed state-wide proficiency exams, this is not always the case. If a student has unmet independent living, social or vocational skills goals as a part of the IEP, then the LEA is still responsible for the student’s education and must continue to educate the student. The parents may want to opt to delay receipt of the high school diploma until these goals are met. However, this can put a guidance counsellor in a delicate situation and potentially at odds with his or her special education colleagues.
Part of the IEP process includes writing a transition plan for the student that identifies what the special education student will do once he or she leaves high school and the intermediate steps or goals that need to be reached in order to fulfill that overarching goal. LEAs under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act can pay for transition programmes and even post-secondary educational placements in colleges or community based agencies. When IDEA was re-authorised as the Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act of 2004 (P.L. 108-446), advocates during the public commentary period wanted the law to be amended to explicitly allow school districts to be able pay for transition programmes, even those in a college. The U.S. Department of Education responded thus:
“A few commenters recommended that the regulations clarify that schools can use funds provided under Part B of the Act to support children in transitional programmes on college campuses and in community-based settings. Discussion: We do not believe that the clarification requested by the commenters is necessary to add to the regulations because, as with all special education and related services, it is up to each child’s IEP Team to determine the special education and related services that are needed to meet each child’s unique needs in order for the child to receive FAPE (Free and Appropriate Public Education). Therefore, if a child’s IEP Team determines that a child’s needs can best be met through participation in transitional programs on college campuses or in community-based settings, and includes such services on the child’s IEP, funds provided under Part B of the Act may be used for this purpose.” (34 CFR Parts 300 and 301 Assistance to States for the Education of Children With Disabilities and Preschool Grants for Children With Disabilities; Final Rule, p. 130).
Should a student with an intellectual disability decide to accept the high school diploma, and he or she would like to continue his or her education, although not as full-time student in a degree bearing programme at an Institution of Higher Education, then recent legislation has created a new source of funding. With the passage of Higher Education Opportunities Act of 2008, (P.L. 110-315) students with intellectual disabilities (ID) who are enrolled in a Comprehensive Transition and Post-secondary Program (CTP) that is approved by the U.S. Department of Education may complete the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA). The student may apply for Federal Pell grants, Federal Supplemental Education Opportunity grants and Federal Work-Study programmes funds. Currently, no federal loan programmes are available to students with ID enrolled in an approved CTP. The most up to date list of federally approved CTPs can be found at - www.thinkcollege.net
For those students who opt to enroll in a private communit- based transition programme after graduating from high school, funding will have to either come from the family directly or from state agencies. Some private lenders have ‘Continuing Education Loan’ programmes that the parents may elect to help pay for community based transition programmes or help defray the cost of the U.S. DOE approved CTPs. Guidance counsellors must encourage students with intellectual disabilities to be life-long learners and pursue post-secondary education or job training. Only through continuing education can students with intellectual disabilities increase the odds that they will be employed.
Written by Ernst VanBergeijk, PhD., M.S.W. (2011)
Associate Dean & Executive Director
New York Institute of Technology
Vocational Independence Program
The Vocational Independence Program is a Comprehensive Transition and Post Secondary Program for students with neurologically based intellectual disabilities or students who are higher functioning on the autism spectrum.
