<p>Just to answer a couple of questions. Students with disabilities of various kinds must register with the college’s disabilities office (or whatever it is called on that campus), submit documentation, including evaluations and MD letters, meet with someone in the office, and obtain a list of allowed accommodations, one of which might, in some cases, be a reduced course load. The student then meets with teachers at the beginning of the year and gives them a letter with the list. Of course, reduced course load does not have anything to do with professors: it is an administrative accommodation.</p>
<p>Logically, with the Americans with Disabilities Act in the background, if a college allows a reduced course load for a student, then that student should also receive aid for the extra semesters that course load entails.</p>
<p>We did not push this on any college: they figured it out themselves. But I could certainly see that it might be an issue to actively raise in some situations. As for merit aid, I would ask the college, and if they say no, do some advocacy over the next few years. Check precedents.</p>
<p>It seems just that financial aid should cover the entire time a student is on campus, if graduation was delayed by a disability covered under the ADA.</p>
<p>But This stuff is evolving legally, and it is always possible that you might need to pioneer.</p>