Alaska College Disability Services After IEP: What Changes and What You Lose

The Legal Shift Nobody Explains Well

Here is the single most important thing to understand about college disability services: your child's IEP stops existing when they receive a regular high school diploma. IDEA — the law that guaranteed your child specialized instruction, annual goal setting, and a team of people accountable for their progress — does not apply to postsecondary institutions. Not at the University of Alaska Anchorage, not at UAF, not at community colleges, not anywhere.

What does apply is Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act and the Americans with Disabilities Act. These laws guarantee reasonable accommodations, but they do not guarantee specialized instruction. The difference is enormous. Under IDEA, the school was obligated to provide the individualized instruction and supports specified in the IEP. Under ADA and Section 504, the college provides equal access — extended test time, note-taking assistance, accessible formats — but the student is responsible for meeting the same academic standards as everyone else.

The Summary of Performance

Alaska school districts must provide a Summary of Performance (SOP) to every student with an IEP who exits special education through graduation or aging out. This document summarizes the student's academic achievement, functional performance, and recommendations for meeting their postsecondary goals.

The SOP matters because it's the bridge document between K-12 and college. It captures what worked, what didn't, and what accommodations the student relied on. College disability services offices use it — alongside clinical documentation — to determine what accommodations to approve.

The problem is that SOPs are only as useful as the effort that goes into them. A boilerplate SOP that lists generic accommodations without explaining the student's specific functional limitations gives the college disability office nothing to work with. Push for specificity: which accommodation strategies actually helped your child learn, what barriers they face without those supports, and what their functional limitations look like in an academic setting.

How to Register with College Disability Services

The process at Alaska's universities is disclosure-based — meaning the student must voluntarily identify themselves to the campus disability services office and submit documentation. Nobody at the university is going to reach out to them. There is no Child Find obligation at the postsecondary level.

The general process looks like this:

1. Contact the campus disability services office at the specific campus. Do this as early as possible — ideally after acceptance, well before the first semester starts. At UAA, the office is Disability Support Services; at UAF, it's Disability Services.
2. Submit documentation. This typically includes the most recent IEP, the Summary of Performance, and clinical diagnostic reports (psychological evaluations, medical records). Documentation requirements and any recency rule vary by campus, so check the specific office before submitting.
3. Meet with a coordinator. The disability services coordinator reviews documentation and works with the student to determine which accommodations are reasonable for the college environment.
4. Receive an accommodation letter. The student takes this letter to each professor at the start of every semester. Accommodations are not automatic — the student must present the letter and communicate with faculty.

What Changes and What Stays

The accommodations a college can provide are narrower than what an IEP team can design. Some common IEP accommodations that do transfer to college settings include extended test time, use of a calculator or assistive technology, alternative test formats, priority seating, and reduced-distraction testing environments.

Accommodations that typically do not transfer include modified curriculum or grading standards, one-on-one paraprofessional support, modified assignments, and behavior intervention plans. Colleges are not required to fundamentally alter the nature of a program.

One area that trips families up: if your child used a scribe, text-to-speech, or other assistive technology in high school, document exactly how that technology was used and what functional limitation it addressed. Generic IEP language like "uses assistive technology as needed" doesn't give a college disability office enough to approve specific tools.

Timing the Transition

Start the college disability services conversation during the transition IEP required by age 16. Make sure the IEP includes a measurable postsecondary education goal (required by IDEA for the transition plan) and that the transition assessment reflects the student's readiness for college-level self-advocacy.

The student — not the parent — will need to drive the accommodation process in college. If your child has a Supported Decision-Making Agreement, their supporters can attend meetings and help gather information, but the student is the one making requests and communicating with professors.

The Alaska IEP Transition to Adulthood Guide walks through the complete IEP-to-college handoff, including a documentation checklist for the Summary of Performance and a semester-by-semester accommodation timeline.

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