Massachusetts College Disability Services: Transitioning From an IEP to Section 504 Accommodations

Your Child's IEP Does Not Follow Them to College

This is the fact that blindsides families: the IEP — the document that has structured your child's education for years — has no legal standing in a college or university setting. The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act governs K-12 special education. Postsecondary institutions operate under a different law entirely: the Americans with Disabilities Act and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act.

The practical difference is enormous. Under an IEP, the school district had a legal obligation to identify your child's needs and provide services. In college, the institution's obligation is limited to providing reasonable accommodations — and only if the student self-identifies, registers with the campus disability services office, and provides documentation of their disability. Nobody tracks your child down to offer help. The student must initiate everything.

What Changes and What Doesn't

No more IEP meetings. There is no team, no annual review, no transition planning page. The student works directly with a disability services coordinator to request accommodations.

No more related services. Speech therapy, occupational therapy, counseling, and other services written into the IEP are not available through the college. If your child needs ongoing therapeutic services, those must be arranged separately through MassHealth or private insurance.

Accommodations, not modifications. In K-12 special education, the curriculum can be modified — simplified content, alternative assignments, reduced expectations. In college, the student must meet the same academic standards as everyone else. Accommodations remove barriers to accessing the curriculum (extended test time, note-taking support, assistive technology) but don't change what the student is expected to learn.

Documentation requirements shift. Colleges set their own documentation standards. Many require current psychoeducational or neuropsychological evaluations, but the required recency varies by institution. The IEP itself is rarely accepted as sufficient documentation. Before your child applies to college, check the disability services office's documentation requirements and schedule any needed evaluations while the school district is still responsible for funding them.

Registering With Disability Services

Every college and university has an office of disability services (sometimes called accessibility services or student access). The student must:

1. Contact the office during or before the first semester
2. Submit required disability documentation
3. Meet with a coordinator to discuss what accommodations are appropriate
4. Request accommodation letters for each course or term, according to the institution's process

The accommodations are not automatic. Your child needs to bring the accommodation letter to each professor and arrange the logistics — where to take extended-time exams, how to access recorded lectures, what assistive technology the institution provides. Self-advocacy skills built during Pre-ETS and transition planning directly determine how effectively your child navigates this process.

The MAICEI Program: College While Still in High School

The Massachusetts Inclusive Concurrent Enrollment Initiative provides a dual-enrollment pathway for eligible students with intellectual disabilities aged 18 to 22 who are still eligible for special education services. Through MAICEI, students take college courses alongside their non-disabled peers at participating Massachusetts public colleges and universities while continuing to receive IEP transition services.

MAICEI is not a special education classroom relocated to a college campus. Students attend regular college courses with accommodations and support, gaining postsecondary experience while the school district continues providing transition services and funding. The program operates at multiple campuses across the state.

For students who want the college experience but are not yet ready for full independent enrollment, MAICEI bridges the gap. It lets eligible students continue receiving IEP transition services while the student builds the academic and self-advocacy skills needed for eventual independent college enrollment.

Planning the Transition During the IEP

The IEP transition planning section should explicitly address postsecondary education if it's part of your child's vision. Starting at age 14, the IEP team should be building the skills — self-advocacy, self-monitoring, independent study habits — that college disability services will not provide. By age 16, the team should be discussing documentation requirements, MAICEI eligibility, and the practical differences between K-12 and postsecondary accommodations.

The Massachusetts IEP Transition to Adulthood Guide covers the IEP-to-504 transition within the broader age-14-to-22 planning timeline, including MAICEI eligibility criteria and the documentation your child will need for campus disability services registration.

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