II 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 2550 

To amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to provide students with disabilities and their families with access to critical information needed to 

select the right college and succeed once enrolled. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JULY 29, 2021 

Mr. CASEY (for himself, Mr. CASSIDY, Ms. HASSAN, and Mr. YOUNG) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions 

A BILL 

To amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to provide 

students with disabilities and their families with access 

to critical information needed to select the right college 

and succeed once enrolled. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Respond, Innovate, 

5 Succeed, and Empower Act of 2021’’ or the ‘‘RISE Act 

6 of 2021’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. PERFECTING AMENDMENT TO THE DEFINITION OF 

2 DISABILITY. 

3 Section 103(6) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 

4 (20 U.S.C. 1003(6)) is amended by striking ‘‘section 

5 3(2)’’ and inserting ‘‘section 3’’. 

6 SEC. 3. SUPPORTING STUDENTS WITH DISABILITIES TO 

7 SUCCEED ONCE ENROLLED IN COLLEGE. 

8 Section 487(a) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 

9 (20 U.S.C. 1094(a)) is amended by adding at the end the 

10 following: 

11 ‘‘(30)(A) The institution will carry out the fol12 lowing: 

13 ‘‘(i) Adopt policies that make any of the 

14 following documentation submitted by an indi15 vidual sufficient to establish that such indi16 vidual is an individual with a disability: 

17 ‘‘(I) Documentation that the indi18 vidual has had an individualized education 

19 program (IEP) in accordance with section 

20 614(d) of the Individuals with Disabilities 

21 Education Act, including an IEP that may 

22 not be current on the date of the deter23 mination that the individual has a dis24 ability. The institution may ask for addi25 tional documentation from an individual 

26 who had an IEP but who was subsequently 


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1 evaluated and determined to be ineligible 

2 for services under the Individuals with Dis3 abilities Education Act, including an indi4 vidual determined to be ineligible during 

5 elementary school. 

6 ‘‘(II) Documentation describing serv7 ices or accommodations provided to the in8 dividual pursuant to section 504 of the Re9 habilitation Act of 1973 (29 U.S.C. 794) 

10 (commonly referred to as a ‘Section 504 

11 plan’). 

12 ‘‘(III) A plan or record of service for 

13 the individual from a private school, a local 

14 educational agency, a State educational 

15 agency, or an institution of higher edu16 cation provided in accordance with the 

17 Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 

18 (42 U.S.C. 12101 et seq.). 

19 ‘‘(IV) A record or evaluation from a 

20 relevant licensed professional finding that 

21 the individual has a disability. 

22 ‘‘(V) A plan or record of disability 

23 from another institution of higher edu24 cation. 


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1 ‘‘(VI) Documentation of a disability 

2 due to service in the uniformed services, as 

3 defined in section 484C(a). 

4 ‘‘(ii) Adopt policies that are transparent 

5 and explicit regarding information about the 

6 process by which the institution determines eli7 gibility for accommodations. 

8 ‘‘(iii) Disseminate such information to stu9 dents, parents, and faculty in an accessible for10 mat, including during any student orientation 

11 and making such information readily available 

12 on a public website of the institution. 

13 ‘‘(B) Nothing in this paragraph shall be con14 strued to preclude an institution from establishing 

15 less burdensome criteria than that described in sub16 paragraph (A) to establish an individual as an indi17 vidual with a disability and therefore eligible for ac18 commodations.’’. 

19 SEC. 4. AUTHORIZATION OF FUNDS FOR THE NATIONAL 

20 CENTER FOR INFORMATION AND TECHNICAL 

21 SUPPORT FOR POSTSECONDARY STUDENTS 

22 WITH DISABILITIES. 

23 Section 777(a) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 

24 (20 U.S.C. 1140q(a)) is amended— 


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1 (1) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘From 

2 amounts appropriated under section 778,’’ and in3 serting ‘‘From amounts appropriated under para4 graph (5),’’; and 

5 (2) by adding at the end the following: 

6 ‘‘(5) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 

7 There is authorized to be appropriated to carry out 

8 this subsection $10,000,000.’’. 

9 SEC. 5. INCLUSION OF INFORMATION ON STUDENTS WITH 

10 DISABILITIES. 

11 Section 487(a) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 

12 (20 U.S.C. 1094(a)), as amended by section 3, is further 

13 amended by adding at the end the following: 

14 ‘‘(31) The institution will submit, for inclusion 

15 in the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data 

16 System (IPEDS) or any other Federal postsec17 ondary institution data collection effort, key data re18 lated to undergraduate students enrolled at the in19 stitution who are formally registered as students 

20 with disabilities with the institution’s office of dis21 ability services (or the equivalent office), including 

22 the total number of students with disabilities en23 rolled, the number of students accessing or receiving 

24 accommodations, the percentage of students with 

25 disabilities of all undergraduate students, and the 


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1 total number of undergraduate certificates or de2 grees awarded to students with disabilities. An insti3 tution shall not be required to submit the informa4 tion described in the preceding sentence if the num5 ber of such students would reveal personally identifi6 able information about an individual student.’’. 

7 SEC. 6. RULE OF CONSTRUCTION. 

8 None of the amendments made by this Act shall be 

9 construed to affect the meaning of the terms ‘‘reasonable 

10 accommodation’’ or ‘‘record of impairment’’ under the 

11 Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 12101 

12 et seq.) or the rights or remedies provided under such Act. 

Æ 


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