The receipt of that funding by any component of the institution requires every program within the institution to comply with the civil rights requirements imposed by the receipt of federal funding. As a part of this obligation, the U.S. Department of Education has determined that these institutions must provide necessary auxiliary aids for persons with sensory impairments, including interpreters for deaf or hard of hearing persons, transcribers, notetakers, and provision of closed captioning or other access for televised information. Colleges and universities expressed concern about the costs of compliance with this provision. The Department emphasizes that recipients can usually meet this obligation by assisting students in using existing resources for auxiliary aids, such as state rehabilitation agencies and private charitable organizations. Indeed, the Department anticipates that the bulk of auxiliary aids will be paid for by private agencies, not by colleges or universities.
Many deaf students are eligible for vocational rehabilitation assistance.
Colleges may encourage eligible students to take advantage of any benefits available to them, including participation in a vocational rehabilitation program. However, the college may not require students to apply for these benefits, or condition availability of auxiliary aids on having a student apply for benefits. Any time a student is ineligible for vocational rehabilitation support, the institution will be responsible for this service. The responsibility of the institution in the absence of vocational rehabilitation involvement is clear. Every court which has reviewed this issue has determined that colleges and post-secondary institutions are obligated to provide interpreters and other auxiliary aids and modifications for deaf students who are not recipients of vocational rehabilitation.