About Us

Mission and Purpose

Purdue University is committed to an inclusive and welcoming experience for all students. To that end, the Disability Resource Center (DRC) is the office designated by Purdue to provide services, resources, and programs to facilitate equal access for disabled students, resulting in their full participation in curricular and co-curricular offerings.

The DRC serves disabled undergraduate and graduate students enrolled at Purdue’s West Lafayette campus and Purdue Polytechnic Institute Statewide Programs, whether part-time or full-time (including students taking online courses). The DRC strives to proactively identify and remove barriers to access, promote inclusion and minimize the need for individual accommodations. The DRC also determines whether students are eligible for reasonable accommodation and, if so, the nature of the reasonable accommodation. The DRC does not test for, diagnose, or treat disability but relies on third-party documentation when determining accommodations.

What informs the DRC's work?

• Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA): In accordance with ADA and the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, Section 504, no qualified person will be denied access to, participation in, or the benefits of, any program or activity operated by the University because of disability.
• Social Justice: Disability is an aspect of diversity, integral to our society and to the Purdue community. All disabled students are valued members of the Purdue community and should have equitable access to all curricular and co-curricular offerings of the university. The DRC works to ensure that access is provided seamlessly, with minimal additional burden on the disabled student.
• Universal Design: The DRC promotes universal design, the idea that experiences should be usable by all people to the greatest extent possible, ideally without the need for individual adjustments. Identifying and removing barriers to access in the design process can result in an enhanced experience for all participants and reduce the need for individual accommodations.
• Disability Studies: Disability Studies is a multi- and interdisciplinary academic field of inquiry that defines impairment as naturally occurring on the continuum of human difference. Experts in the field challenge the dated view of disability as an individual deficit or defect, emphasizing instead that individuals are disabled by their environments, not by their impairments.