Neurodivergent
Autism, ADHD, dyslexia, executive function — yes, this is for you.
A neurodivergent kid asked to live alone for the first time, manage their own meds, navigate a 200-person lecture hall, and build a social life from nothing — at 18 — is being asked to do a hard thing. Some colleges have built programs that take this seriously. This page is about those programs.
Structured programs
Built for ND students, not retrofitted.
There's a meaningful difference between a school that accommodates an autistic student under the ADA and a school that has a dedicated autism program with peer mentors, social coaching, and faculty liaisons embedded in the academic department. The first is the legal floor. The second is what actually changes the four-year graduation rate.
Landmark College →
The whole school is the program. ADHD, autism, dyslexia, EF disorder. Structured for ND from the ground up.
Beacon College →
Same. The full LAC built for LD/ADHD/ASD students. Embedded support is the default, not opt-in.
U Arizona SALT Center →
Fee-based comprehensive program. Strategic learning specialists 1-on-1 weekly. The mainstream-university benchmark.
Marshall H.E.L.P. + The College Program for Students with Autism →
Two distinct programs. H.E.L.P. for LD/ADHD. Autism program adds peer mentors + social-skills coaching.
RIT Spectrum Support Program →
Autism-specific. Transition coaching + faculty liaisons embedded in academic departments.
Drexel Autism Support Program →
Drexel's DASP. Weekly meetings with grad-student peer mentors + group social events. Fee-based.
One quote
“Calm and scannable is how you get to college, not a personality.”
The application reader has 12 minutes per file. Whatever you've written, it has to read clearly on a tablet at 6pm. That's a design constraint, not a comment on who you are.
What to look for
Signals a program is real, not theater.
A real ND-specific program has a named director, a published fee or grant-funded slot count, a weekly meeting cadence with an actual person, and an outcome stat (4-year graduation rate, program retention rate). It does NOT just rebrand the DSO with a neurodivergent-friendly logo. If the program page is one paragraph and a stock photo, it's theater. Email the director and ask for the retention rate; the strong programs will tell you, the weak ones will dodge.
Cost matters here too. Fee-based programs (SALT, PAL, H.E.L.P., Drexel DASP) typically run $3K–$8K per year on top of tuition. Some are billable to insurance under certain plans, none are covered by federal financial aid the way tuition is. Build the program fee into your net-price math from the start.
See also: general disability services and the DSO question · college mental health · net price calculator (add the program fee).
Primary sources: each program's own page, the College Autism Network directory (collegeautismnetwork.org), AHEAD (ahead.org).