S3589-119

What This Bill Does

The Respond, Innovate, Succeed, and Empower Act amends the Higher Education Act conditions that apply to colleges participating in federal student-aid programs. A college must treat any of six records as sufficient to establish disability: a high-school IEP, a Section 504 plan, an ADA service record from a school or education agency, an evaluation by a relevant licensed professional, another college's disability record, or documentation of a service-connected disability. The reported version clarifies that an IEP or 504 plan used at any point in high school remains acceptable regardless of when the last evaluation occurred.

Colleges must publish explicit, accessible information explaining how they determine eligibility for reasonable accommodations or modifications, distribute it to students, parents, and faculty, include it in orientation, and place it on a public website. Institutions may adopt less burdensome documentation standards. The bill does not alter the meanings of reasonable accommodation, reasonable modification, or record of impairment, nor does it displace rights or remedies under the ADA or Rehabilitation Act.

The bill also requires colleges to submit disability-service data through IPEDS or another federal collection. The reported text covers undergraduate and graduate students and requires counts and percentages registered with disability-services offices, counts voluntarily reported as receiving accommodations or modifications, and certificates or degrees awarded. Reporting is excused where small numbers would reveal personally identifiable information. Related statutory cross-references are renumbered. Finally, the bill authorizes a total of $10 million for fiscal years 2027-2031 for the national center supporting postsecondary students with disabilities.

Who Benefits and How

Students with disabilities benefit from having familiar school, medical, military, or prior-college records accepted instead of facing institution-specific proof barriers. Students with older IEPs or 504 plans gain explicit protection against rejection based only on evaluation age. Parents, faculty, counselors, and disability-services staff gain clearer public procedures. Congress, researchers, and disability advocates receive comparable enrollment, accommodation-use, and completion data. The national technical-support center gains a dedicated authorization that can fund guidance and institutional assistance.

Who Bears the Burden and How

Colleges and disability-services offices must revise documentation rules, websites, orientations, notices, case workflows, and staff training. Institutional data offices must collect, protect, and transmit undergraduate and graduate disability metrics while suppressing personally identifiable small-cell data. The Department of Education must update federal reporting systems, administer the center funding, and maintain statutory cross-references. Federal appropriators bear up to $10 million in authorized cost if the funding is enacted.

Key Provisions

• Requires colleges to accept six specified categories of disability documentation and permits less burdensome alternatives.
• Requires transparent accommodation procedures in accessible orientation materials and on public institutional websites.
• Expands federal disability-services reporting to undergraduate and graduate registration, accommodation, and completion measures.
• Protects personally identifiable information by excusing reports that would disclose an individual student.
• Authorizes $10 million over fiscal years 2027-2031 for the national disability information and technical-support center.
• Limits construction of the amendments so existing ADA and Rehabilitation Act definitions, rights, and remedies remain intact.