RISE Act

The RISE Act (Respond, Innovate, Succeed, and Empower Act) would strengthen and standardize how colleges handle accommodations for students with disabilities and improve access to information for students and families during college selection and enrollment. It does this by broadening the types of documentation colleges can accept to establish a disability, requiring transparent and accessible information about how accommodations are determined, funding a federal information and technical-support center for disability services, adding disability-related data to federal data collections (IPEDS), and clarifying that these changes do not alter the core definitions or rights under the Americans with Disabilities Act. In short, the bill aims to make the process of obtaining accommodations clearer, more consistent across institutions, and better supported by data and national resources. Key changes include accepting a wide range of disability documentation (such as IEPs, 504 plans, private-school or higher-ed plans, professional evaluations, and military disability records), mandating transparent accommodation processes and accessible dissemination (including at orientation and on public websites), authorizing new federal funding for a national information center, adding new disability data reporting to IPEDS, and preserving existing ADA definitions and rights.