BOSTON —Allowing individuals with developmental disabilities to access college courses alongside students without disabilities would grant them “transformative” experiences that can almost quadruple employment rates, advocates said Tuesday.
Some students with disabilities can currently enroll in classes at a handful of public college and universities through a state program, and legislation before the Joint Committee on Education (H 1219 / S 756) would expand similar access at all 29 state higher education institutes.
Supporters, speaking at the committee’s hearing Tuesday, said that higher education can make a crucial difference in quality-of-life for students with intellectual disabilities or autism disorders.
“Participation in college is transformative for these students, and they gain essential life skills they typically would not experience in their districts’ special education programs,” said Debra Hart, educational coordinator for the Institute for Community Inclusion at UMass Boston.
Since 2007, the Massachusetts Inclusive Concurrent Enrollment Initiative (MAICEI) has helped place students with disabilities in courses at schools such as Middlesex Community College and Salem State University alongside peers who do not have disabilities.
The program has been successful so far: Hart said that one year after exiting school, 65 percent of participants in the initiative were employed compared to just 17 percent of adults with developmental disabilities who had education beyond high school.
Rep. Sean Garballey, who sponsored the House version of the bill, said the goal now is to build on MAICEI’s work — funded at $1.7 million in the current budget — and expand it with a statewide statute so that every public college and university in the school is opening its doors to students with disabilities.
“I can’t think of a more important piece of legislation to pass this session,” Garballey said. “These students want an opportunity just like their peers.”
If approved, the bills would remove obstacles that currently block access, allowing those with disabilities to enroll in courses without first passing standardized tests or attaining a high school diploma, similar to what MAICEI does.
It would also create a grant program under the Department of Higher Education that would fund partnerships between school districts and colleges to create inclusive programs for students aged 18 to 21.
Matthew Cullen, who graduated from Salem State University last year and now holds three different part-time jobs, said his “dream came true” at school.
