Elite US campuses grapple with soaring disability claims and academic advantage debate

Elite US campuses grapple with soaring disability claims and academic advantage debate

For decades, disability accommodations on American campuses were understood as a moral and legal necessity. Extra time on exams, flexible deadlines, and priority housing were safeguards meant to level the playing field for students whose physical or cognitive limitations made learning more challenging.Now, that balance is being tested. Reports published this week show that a growing number of students are claiming disabilities to access these benefits. At Stanford University, as many as 40 percent of students reportedly register for accommodations. Brown and Harvard see more than 20 percent of undergraduates doing the same, while Amherst College reports a figure as high as 34 percent. The data, cited by The Atlantic, has prompted debate among faculty, disability specialists, and education experts.

Diagnoses in focus

The surge does not reflect a sudden increase in visible or physical impairments. Instead, experts say the rise is largely linked to conditions like ADHD, anxiety disorders, and dyslexia. These conditions can be real and impactful but are harder to objectively verify.“This isn’t about denying mental health struggles,” one professor told The Atlantic. “It’s about how a system built on trust is being stretched to the point where it starts to lose meaning.”

The high stakes of extra time

Extra exam time has always been one of the most coveted accommodations. In elite institutions where grades determine scholarships, internships, and career opportunities, even small extensions can provide a significant advantage. When a third of a class receives such benefits, faculty members worry the line between genuine support and competitive leverage is blurring.

The class dimension

There are uneven distributions of accommodations. Formal psychological assessment, which is required in documentation, may be costly, and insurance may not cover it in most cases. Students with better families can afford such assessments, which ends up resulting in a system where disability status and the benefits attached to it may discriminate against the rich and may favor them unconsciously.Offices on disability services are in a dilemma. The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) under federal law requires that colleges offer reasonable accommodations upon the submission of documentation. Rejection exposes an organization to lawsuits; acceptance may be too generous at the cost of overbearing resources and resentment.

Mental health awareness vs. system abuse

Advocates stress that students are not “gaming the system.” Anxiety and attention-related diagnoses have increased nationally, alongside growing awareness and reduced stigma. Many students genuinely need support. The challenge lies in an academic model that still measures merit by speed and endurance.Even some disability scholars concede that if a fifth or a third of the student body qualifies for accommodations, the concept of “reasonable adjustment” needs rethinking.

Rethinking assessment models

Some professors are already adapting. Timed exams are being replaced with take-home tests, open-book formats, or long-term projects that reward understanding over speed. Others are exploring “universal design” in education, structuring courses so fewer students require formal accommodations.

The path forward

Universities are taking the problem into consideration. Although there is no significant institution that has declared supranational changes, the debate within them is growing stronger. The narrowing of the documentation requirements will serve to lock out the students who actually require assistance, and the inability to change the system would ruin its validity.According to The Atlantic, it is not the unnecessary task to reverse disability rights but to protect them. The accommodations were aimed at making sure that disability does not determine the fate of academic success but rather to be a competitive advantage.Whether the US colleges will be able to find the balance between fairness, support, and integrity without making disability an object of privilege or an object of suspicion remains to be seen over the coming years.