Recommendations to New York State for strategies to increase access
8. Funding and Financial Mechanisms to Enhance the Educational Opportunity for Students with Disabilities (continued)
- The New York State Education Department and the four sectors develop a coordinated advocacy effort to seek additional state and federal resources that colleges and universities will require to meet the demands of increased enrollment of students with disabilities.
- New York's congressional delegation and members of the state legislature are called upon to amend federal and state tax law to allow tax credits for legitimate education-related disability expenses (similar to the new federal Hope Scholarship and Lifetime Learning Credits currently available).
- New York State creates Income Protection Allowances (IPA) to recognize extraordinary disability accommodation costs. Title IV of Congressional Methodology, which sets rules for determining financial aid eligibility, is amended to take the costs associated with disabilities into account when determining income, and New York State similarly amends its formula for determining financial aid eligibility.