Does a college have to provide an air condition for a student with asthma under Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973?

If you are a student with a disability as defined by Section 504 (or the Americans with Disabilities Act or the Pennsylvania Human Relations Act) you may be entitled to "reasonable accommodation" of your disability. First thing to do is make sure your doctor's note contains enough information to qualify you as a student with a disability.  Generally you want the doctor to support that your asthma affects your ability to live in the dorm and affects what is generally called a "major life activity."  Your ability to learn is what makes the most sense in a university environment.  But it may affect you differently and you want to be clear how it affects you personally.  For example, if some dorms have AC and yours doesn't and you are offered another room with AC, that could also be considered reasonable under some circumstances. The second question is what accommodations you need to deal with the effects of your disability.  If there are a range of options that are equally effective, the university may offer something else. But since AC in your room does not on its face seem unreasonable, let's work with that.  College dorms are such a range of age, architecture and electrical systems that I wonder if they have given you specifications of what you might use.  Then I would suggest you contact the office for support of students with disabilities.  These are the people who should be helping you resolve this.  Ask for a copy of the procedures if you want to challenge the process.  If you don't get help from that office, you can contact the Dean in charge of housing.  Sadly, there are students who would want to be stuck in a dorm room without air conditioning.  This is the suspicion you have to recognize -- not agree with it, but it is probably one of the reasons you are getting a hard time.  That is why your documentation needs to be in order.  If you needed accommodations in high school, that also would be information that might be useful to you. It is important that you do not put your health at risk while you work this out with your school.  If it is not resolved quickly, send a letter (or an email) to the student disability office that if you have to purchase your own AC, or incur expenses in order to continue in school, you will be seeking reimbursement from the school.  You can file a complaint with the Office of Civil Rights of the U.S. Department of Education, but that takes time. Good luck. Penelope A. Boyd www.penelopeboydlaw.om 610-692-3400