The Change in the Role of Parent as Advocate
The most important thing to understand about college advocacy is that it needs to begin while the student is still in high school. The parent has always been the spokesperson and advocate for her child, but that is not true in college. The courts recognize an 18 year old as an adult. In terms of education unless the student is cognitively unable to manage her own affairs and therefore has a court appointed guardian, as soon as the student receives that Regents or local diploma, all the rules that shaped his or her education change.
Legal Differences
It is essential that parents and students understand that the transition from high school to college is more than a move from one educational setting to another; that move reflects a change in the student’s legal status and a change in the legal charge to the institution. Under IDEA, which covers education from K-grade 12, districts have a legal responsibility to seek and identify students with disabilities, and to provide an appropriate free public education in the least restrictive environment. Each child is entitled to that education by law. That is not true of college. For most parents the most difficult change between high school and college is the recognition that the laws of the United States recognize an 18 year old as an adult, unless the parents or someone else has legal guardianship. At the college level, this means that the student must meet the eligibility requirements of the institution. The difference between entitlement and eligibility will be discussed in depth in the next section.
Under Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (Section 504) the student must be an ‘otherwise qualified person with a disability’. That means that the student must self-identify as a person with a disability, provide appropriate documentation of that disability and assist in the process of determining what accommodations would be effective in meeting his or her needs. It also means that the student must be able to act appropriately in a college setting, which includes being able to speak up and advocate for himself.
Under the Family Educational Rights Privacy Act (FERPA) no person from the college can discuss confidential information, which includes anything related to grades or disabilities, with parents, without permission from the student. At the high school level, the relationship is between the school district and the parents; at the college level, the relationship is between the college and the student.