Texas A&M Initiates State's First Inclusive Four-Year College Program For Students With Disabilities

Jul 30, 2019 by apost team

Texas A&M University proudly clears the way to higher education with its Aggie ACHIEVE program for students with developmental and intellectual disabilities. The ACHIEVE program makes history as the first of its kind in the state of Texas.

The university vows to help disabled students realize their dream of becoming an "Aggie", as the graduates of Texas A&M University are affectionately known. The four-year post-secondary program is specifically designed to meet the needs of the intellectually disabled, the university announced publicly.

Beginning this fall, the Aggie ACHIEVE program welcomes its first four students. In their first two years, the program courses focus on independent living skills, job development, and skill specialization. During the last two years, ACHIEVE students will be placed in internships, and further focus on career development.

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Texas A&M proudly introduced the four special needs students on social media; the individual profiles show the beaming students proudly holding Texas A&M banners. The four students will live in campus housing and fully participate in classes, as well as school clubs and organizations.

“This is not meant to be a place to come get the college experience and then go back to what you were doing before,” states Texas A&M's assistant professor of special education Dr. Carly Gilson. “The intention of this program is to provide a rigorous education, academics and employment experience that will prepare these young adults to go out and work in the community in a job they are interested in that matches their strengths.”

“We are focused on the importance of being an inclusive and immersive program,” Gilson continued. “We have a campus community of 60,000 students and we want to make sure that the students in Aggie ACHIEVE are going to be integrated fully into that campus community.”

Finally, the students will develop mentor relationships with other special needs students as “fitness friends” and lunch partners through ACHIEVEmates, which is the relationship aspect of the program. However, the disabled students won't receive a degree from Texas A&M. Instead, they will earn a certificate of completion, reported to the university.

Furthermore, the students need to pay for fees and tuition; however, the Aggie staff are working diligently to defer as much of the cost as possible, with federal funding and grants. 

Soon, many more deserving disabled students will lay claim to being a “proud, fighting Texas Aggie.” Are you as glad about this development as we are? Let us know your thoughts, and make sure to show this story to your family and friends.