Section 504

The U.S. Department of Education enforces Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, as amended, (Section 504) a civil rights statute which prohibits discrimination against individuals with disabilities. The Office for Civil Rights (OCR) also enforces Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (Title II), which extends this prohibition against discrimination to the full range of state and local government services, programs, and activities (including public schools) regardless of whether they receive any Federal financial assistance. The Americans with Disabilities Act Amendments Act of 2008 (Amendments Act), effective January 1, 2009, amended the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA) and included a conforming amendment to the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (Rehabilitation Act) that affects the meaning of disability in Section 504. The standards adopted by the ADA were designed not to restrict the rights or remedies available under Section 504. The Title II regulations applicable to free appropriate public education issues do not provide greater protection than applicable Section 504 regulations. This guidance focuses primarily on Section 504.

Section 504 prohibits discrimination on the basis of disability in programs or activities that receive Federal financial assistance from the U.S. Department of Education. For more details, please refer to the United States Department of Education Section 504 Frequently Asked Questions document. 

An eligible student is a student who: 

1. Is regarded as having a physical or mental impairment which substantially limits a major life activity; or
2. Has a record of having such an impairment.  

Major life activities include walking, seeing, hearing, speaking, breathing, learning, working, caring for oneself, and performing manual tasks. The disability must substantially limit learning activities for the student to be eligible for 504 educational services (34 CFR § 104.3(1)). This activity need not be related to learning to come under the protection of Section 504. The determination of whether an impairment is "substantially limiting" must be made on a case-by-case basis by the Section 504 Review Committee. The nature, severity, duration, and permanence of the impairment should be taken into consideration.

A person is considered to have a disability under Section n504 if he or she meets one or more of the following definitions: 

• Has a physical or mental impairment which substantially limits one or more major life activities. (The term does not cover children disadvantaged by cultural, environmental, or economic factors.) 
• Has a record or history of such an impairment
• Is regarded as having such an impairment 
  • Has a physical or mental impairment that does not substantial limit major life activity, but is treated by the school district as having such a limitation; 
  • Has a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits a major life activity only as a result of the attitudes of others toward such an impairment; or
  • Has no physical or mental impairment, but is treated by the school district as having such an impairment.