Student Rights & Accommodations

Section 504, the ADA and FERPA give students more than most schools volunteer. An accommodation is not a favor a professor grants; it is an obligation attached to federal funding, and nearly every private university takes federal funding through its students’ aid. FERPA governs who sees your record and what a school may say about you.

These posts cover what you can require, how to ask so that the request is on the record, and what to do when a school delays, waters down or quietly stops honoring an accommodation it already approved.

From Requesting Access to Facing Academic Consequences: Access-Related Grievances, Retaliation Concerns, and Procedural Protections in Higher Education

Written at a reader’s request: how students document access barriers and protected activity, and what the law says when academic consequences follow.
When Functional Limitations Affect Academic Access: ADA/Section 504 Accommodations, Academic Participation, and Graduate Progression

Written at a reader’s request: what the ADA and Section 504 require when accommodations enabled academic success but a progression dispute follows.
Is Your School in Financial Trouble? The Federal Warning Signs Families Can Check Tonight

Most families never check whether the federal government has their school on a financial watch list. Here is how to read the warning signs.
Bar Exam Accommodations: The Law Is On Your Side. The Clock Is Not.

Bar examiners must give the exam so your score reflects what you know, not your disability. The deadlines are tight.
Florida Bar Exam Accommodations: The November 15 and May 1 Deadlines, the Eight Forms, and What Happens After a Denial

Florida bar accommodations run on a calendar that starts months before the exam, and review goes only to the Supreme Court of Florida.
NCLEX Accommodations Denied: It Is Your State Board’s Decision, and That Changes the Appeal

Your state board of nursing, not the exam’s writer or administrator, decides NCLEX accommodations. That changes who you appeal to and what law applies.
USMLE Accommodations Denied: The One Reconsideration You Get, and How Not to Waste It

The USMLE program gives you one reconsideration per registration, and it will only look at evidence it has not already seen.
LSAT Accommodations Denied: LSAC’s Two-Day Appeal Clock and What to File in Five

Denied LSAT accommodations? You have two business days to say you are appealing and five calendar days to file. Here is what goes in.
MCAT Accommodations Denied: What the AAMC Reconsideration and Appeal Actually Look At

The AAMC decides MCAT accommodations on a fixed rhythm. What the review looks at, what reconsideration and appeal are for, and the calendar.
Testing Accommodations Denied? The Law, the Appeal Clocks, and the Court Option

A denial letter from a testing agency is written to sound final. It is not. Here are the law and the appeal clocks.