By DIANA SCHOBERG
The Patriot Ledger

Two-thirds of students who received special education services in high school get no accommodations from their college, an U.S. Department of Education study shows.

Unlike public schools, colleges are not required to provide special needs education. Instead, they must abide by the Americans with Disabilities Act, which requires only equal access to buildings and programs.

A college might give a student extra time for exams or assign an aide to take notes for a physically impaired student. But hidden disabilities are often un-addressed because colleges are seldom told about them.

Unlike public schools, which are responsible for identifying disabilities and modifying programs, college students must ask for services, prove the need and make arrangements.

“All the responsibility really falls onto the student,” said Nancy Hurley, an education specialist at the Institute for Community Inclusion at University of Massachusetts-Boston, which created a Web site called ThinkCollege.net for students with disabilities interested in going to college.

Some colleges are just beginning to reach out to special needs students.

The number of students registered with Quincy College’s office of disabilities has tripled since 2000. It’s director said she believes that is a result of new programs and training for advisors to provide the help students need, rather than an increase in the number of students with disabilities attending the school.

“I think it’s more a factor of our school doing a better job encouraging students with disabilities to register in the disabilities office to receive accommodations,” said Susan Bossa, executive director of student support services.

The Department of Education 10-year study, which is continuing, found that 20 percent of those with emotional disabilities have taken college classes, and two-thirds of students with hearing or visual impairments are enrolled in college.

Colleges are only beginning to see students with multiple disabilities and autism spectrum disorders, said Lorraine Wolf, clinical director of disability services at Boston University.

“The people we’re all watching very carefully are the Aspergers and autism students,” she said. “With numbers like 1 in 150, which is being bandied about now, those are a lot of kids, they’re going to go somewhere.”

Diana Schoberg may be reached at dschoberg@ledger.com.