Imagine spending $46,550 a year to send your young adult child to a university. For most typical college students, this price tag would bring with it a full college experience with a wide range of academic courses, dorm life, and internships. Now imagine that you’re spending that amount on your adult child with an Intellectual Disability (ID), and the university you sent them to fails to deliver on promises of a real, inclusive college experience. The family of a student with ID sues Bethel University alleging their son did not receive the inclusive education the program promised.
As of February 2019, the matter has been resolved to the satisfaction of all parties.
This seems to be the reality for at least a handful of students with ID who attended Bethel University Inclusive Learning and Development (BUILD) program in Minnesota. 19-year-old Antonio left the program after his first year, when his parents noticed the BUILD program did not provide enough inclusive classes or internship hours. “I wasn’t happy when the BUILD staff told us Antonio wouldn’t be taking any inclusive classes his first semester so he could ‘adjust’ to life on campus, but I went along with it with the understanding that he would have more inclusive courses in following semesters. Then 2nd semester rolled around and the only inclusive classes he was given were badminton and tennis. He would never be able to make it to 50% inclusive classes by the end of his 2nd and final year after viewing his schedule, so we left the program,” says Antonio’s mother, Jennifer Luebke.
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Luebke and other parents filed an official complaint with Bethel University. From it’s own academic catalog and website, the BUILD program sells itself as a Comprehensive Transition Program (CTP), which means that it must provide students with Intellectual Disabilities (ID) at least 50% inclusive academic courses and internships. In return students with ID can receive federal grant and work-study money to make up the cost of tuition (if they qualify). When the school denied the claims late this summer, Luebke and one other parent filed an appeal.
“I feel like my daughter missed an entire college experience, because she never got to live in the dorms with someone of her choosing or take classes of interest to her like art and ballet,” says a mother who wishes to stay anonymous because she fears retaliation on her daughter if she speaks out. “None of the classes were inclusive. The program staff tried telling us that study hall was inclusive because they were at the library or that the ‘wellness and fitness’ classes were inclusive, but the typical students who worked with them were getting lab credit. In fact, she received a certificate in education, but never took one education class,” she explains. “I hope they’re making changes, but a parent friend whose child is in the program currently says they’re still upset with paying all this tuition for badminton.”
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Another mother of a BUILD program graduate who now wishes to remain anonymous, also corroborates these problems: “Students were supposedly placed in community settings, but the actual outcome was very limited due to poor planning, lack of understanding of transportation and minimal relationships with the internship site leadership. This resulted in minimal employment opportunities coming out of graduation from the program. In addition, requests for ‘repeating’ the internships fell on deaf ears, with both Bethel and the state sponsor who paid the tuition for the class and vocational ‘mentor’. When Bethel indicated that study time/independent study was inclusive, it made me realize how defensive and baseless their positions were. They have never promoted inclusion in academic classes, other than one drama class. It would have taken effort and substantial belief in inclusion for the program design to have success in that area; I don’t believe that ‘belief’ existed within the leadership at any level. Students were included in the Dance Team (non-academic) and many social activities, which led my daughter with Down syndrome to really enjoy the program in many ways.”
In an October 2018 response to the appeal, Bethel University President, Jay Barnes, admitted wrongdoing occurred in access to academic courses, but denied any wrongdoing in the housing and social aspects of the program. Barnes proposed some changes to the program and additional academic classes for the 2019-2020 school year. He also offered Luebke’s son 20% off tuition in their final year of the 2-year program.
Bethel University declined my invitation for an interview. The Department of Education official responsible for oversight of post-secondary education programs for students with ID also did not return my request for an interview. In fact, it seems there’s no oversight at all. “It’s important to understand the complexity of all of this. The consistency across all of the programs at this stage is very variable. What is required is quality assurance. Until there is an accreditation process there’s going to be problems,” explains Think College Co-Director, Meg Grigal.
So, what are parents and students with an intellectual disability to do when searching for a post-secondary program? How can they ensure that the program delivers on promises? Visit www.inclusionevolution.com tomorrow for a follow up and call to action for those seeking out a credible post-secondary experience.
