Education after High School
The goal of vocational rehabilitation, according to the U.S. Department of Labor, is to help you return to work as quickly as possible, to a job compatible with the work restrictions provided by your physician.
Although state vocational rehabilitation offices work primarily toward getting people employed, these offices can also be very helpful in the college process.
If you qualify for vocational rehabilitation, your vocational rehabilitation counselor will review your educational plans in terms of job potential. This will help ensure that the field that you are choosing is a match for your talents and strengths.
If you qualify for a vocational rehabilitation, under the amended Rehabilitation Act, you must apply for financial aid. Working with your college's financial aid office and the vocational rehabilitation office makes this a lengthy and time-consuming process. Contact both offices early in your college application process.
Childhood cancer survivor Rachel shared in a guest blog post that she wishes she had worked with her state’s vocational rehabilitation office sooner: “I spent my high school years trying to ignore the fact that I was ‘different.’ I did not go to the guidance counselor who would have gotten me set up with [vocational rehab] early on. It wasn’t until I was almost finished with community college that I found out they would have paid for the entirety of my first two years of education if I’d only acted sooner. I ended up working full-time at a movie theatre while also a full-time student those first couple years. It would’ve been great if I had only needed to focus on my studies.”