College Disability Accommodations Surge Raises Concerns Among Educators

A growing trend of college students claiming disabilities to secure special accommodations is raising alarms across American universities, according to recent reports. Data published in The Atlantic reveals that elite institutions are seeing unprecedented numbers of students registering as disabled, with some universities reporting rates as high as 40 percent.

At prestigious institutions including Brown and Harvard, more than 20 percent of undergraduates are now registered as having disabilities. Amherst College reports 34 percent, while Stanford University has been scrutinized after claims that up to 40 percent of its student body has registered for disability accommodations.

Education experts argue this surge doesn’t reflect an increase in physical impairments but rather represents students seeking diagnoses for conditions like ADHD, anxiety, and dyslexia to gain advantages such as extended testing time and preferential campus housing.

“She, of course, didn’t have a disability,” wrote one Stanford student in The Sunday Times, describing a classmate’s situation. “She knew it. I knew it. But she had figured out early what most Stanford students eventually learn: the Office of Accessible Education will give students a single room, extra time on tests and even exemptions from academic requirements if they qualify as ‘disabled.'”

The report also noted that some students have begun claiming religious dietary restrictions to escape Stanford’s mandatory $7,944 annual meal plan, further suggesting a pattern of gaming institutional systems.

Sarah Parshall Perry, Vice President and Legal Fellow at Defending Education, expressed concern that this trend harms students with legitimate needs. “College students with real disabilities—like mine—are being passed over for those who, as a result of insufficient high school preparation or otherwise, have sought to make things as easy as possible for themselves in the ordinarily rigorous college environment,” Perry told Fox News Digital.

This situation reflects broader concerns about student preparedness for academic challenges and life beyond university. “The fact that we’re seeing a surge in students presenting with ‘disabilities’ is evidence that the youngest generation is ill-prepared for life in the real world,” Perry added.

Erika Sanzi, Senior Director of Communications for Defending Education, characterized the issue as a reflection of “our perverse incentive structure that encourages students to claim identity labels that come with special accommodations, even when they don’t have an actual disability.”

Professor Zachary Marschall of the University of Kentucky, who also serves as editor-in-chief of Campus Reform, acknowledged the legitimate role of accommodations while criticizing their misuse. “Reasonable accommodations rightly exist to ensure equal opportunities for all students,” Marschall said. “However, being uncomfortable is not a disability and it is unreasonable to scheme for a single dorm room or easier testing conditions.”

He attributed the trend to “Gen Z’s toxic entitlement to feel comfortable, which higher education enables by accommodating students’ self-centered expectations.”

In response to the controversy, Stanford University has reviewed its federal reporting practices. The university clarified that its previously reported figure of 38 percent for 2023 reflected students who registered with the Office of Accessible Education rather than those actually receiving accommodations.

“The number of students who received academic accommodations is less than half of the reported number,” Stanford stated. “For fall 2025, 12.5% of undergraduates received academic accommodations.”

The situation raises important questions about the balance between providing necessary support for students with genuine disabilities and maintaining academic standards across higher education. It also highlights growing concerns about how disability accommodation systems might be undermined if perceived as being widely exploited for competitive advantage.

Neither Brown nor Harvard universities had responded to requests for comment at the time of reporting.