I am on SSI and I never could. You can qualify for Pell and other grants and Bank Loans but never heard of that.. I have been on SSI for 9 years and in school 3 of those and that's never been an option/offered to me.

My Father-In-Law went to community college for 10 years free. It varies depending on the rules for the college you wish to attend. He attended from the time he was 70 years old until he was 80 years old, and still takes an occasional online class at age 89. You need to ask the admitting office if you can qualify for free or reduced rates. They usually don't just offer, so be sure you explain your circumstances fully.

Yes, and as a matter of fact, you don't have to report income for college such as PELL, Tuition costs, loans or anything else that has to do with college or learning a new trade that can lead to a job or skill you can do at a place of business or at home depending on the level of your disabilities. Community colleges will give you information through their Disabled Students Services deparment and financial aid. You can also call social security and ask this same question and I found they are always eager to help in any way. Although going back to college is a great idea, one must realize that various college do in fact have their own opinions regardless of law and practice certain things that can keep a person back. The college I attended had a Dean who told me she would expell me if she saw me on the campus with a wheelchair and told me she cared less what DSPS said or anyone else. Then I found I had a stalker who accused me of trying to gain sympathy for better grades and even stood up in front of the entire class and accused me of that and other things that weren't true. The college did little to take care of this. I had a 3.8 GPA for the first four semesters and then even the DSPS counselor assigned to me told me she would give the proper paperwork to the teachers herself for what they call Letter's of Accommodations, however regardless of the paperwork each teacher has the discretion legally to dishonor the letters. Then to top it off, I proved that the stalker worked in the learning center where my instructors dropped off my finals for two seperate courses and the stalker lied to me several times and told me the tests weren't there which cost me two "F" grades. This went on for two semesters and when I discovered the counselor from DSPS told the teachers I was not disabled and never gave the letters of accommodations herself as she insisted for two semesters she give to my teachers herself in person to sign. My doctors wrote her letters proving I was disabled and she turned around and resigned her position and went to work as a counselor for the California Department of Rehabilitation Services. I even found out that the financial aid office refused to do the proper paperwork to allow me several grants but were easy to give me a school loan while later I found that the financial aid loan companies give incentives and money or compensation and commissions to the same employees at financial aid for signing me up for a loan instead that I have to pay back, evne though I may not live long enough to pay them back. When it was all over and I proved all these things really happened, there were meetings with the DSPS office and my counselors who turned a bunch of "F" grades into "W" for withdrawels. One teacher even told me that he preferred to have only younger students out of high school and then I realized that the college preferred to cater mostly to the younger students.Now I'm stuck with no degrees after seven years and still no certifications because they don't offer the courses online I need to finish my degrees. There is no such thing as real accommodations for the disabled and the colleges can basically write their own rules and laws regardless of what the law. I was however able to go back and explain to my instructors what happened with DSPS and they turned some of the "F" grades into "B" grades while one other very cold hearted teacher told me if I mentioned I was a disabled student one more time she would give me an "F" grade early on in the semester and regardless of all the work I did she refused to allow the grade to be changed even to a "W" for a withdrawel. Some of my other instructors came to my rescue and found my work was way above average and did what they could to give me a good report to DSPS, and I am very thankfull. When I complained to the Chancellor's office, nothing was done but the college was so afraid I was going to sue them that they hired a law office that specializes in nothing but college law in order to defame me any way they could and even sent out a hired private investigator who lied to me and said he was there to talk to me but after reading his report was hired for the one reason of doing all he could to defile my charactor and claim I was derainged but once the college realized I had no intent of sueing they called off the dogs and so here I am with no degrees yet. I decided to just wait until I can find a college that does understand the severely disabled and or caters only to the disabled to finish my degrees. All in all, most teachers are more than willing to allow accommodations like turning in an assignment a day late because you had an MRI or surgery or procedure or was in the hospital while others don't care and actually don't want disabled students in their class and sometimes will outright just force a disabled student to leave their class or just give them an "F" so it's best to do some research and find out a littlem more about the course and teacher before signing up.

From the APSU website: Tennessee Code Annotated, Section 49-3251 Subsection a: Auditing of Courses Disabled persons and elderly persons auditing courses at state college or universities: (a) Disabled persons suffering from a permanent total disability which totally incapacitates such person from working at an occupation which brings him/her an income, and persons sixty years of age or older, who domiciled in Tennessee, may audit courses at any state supported college or university without paying tuition charges, maintenance fee, student activity fees or registration fees; however, this privilege may be denied by the college or university on an individual classroom basis according to space availability. Provided further, that the provisions of this section shall not apply at medical schools, dental or pharmacy schools and no institution of higher education shall be required to make physical alteration of its buildings or other facilities to comply with this section. Prior to admittance the university of college involved may required an affidavit or certificate from a physician or an agency charged with compensating the disabled person or adjudicating the permanent total disability of the person who is requesting admittance to classes, that such person is permanently total disabled as set forth herein. Subsection b: Taking Courses for Credit Subject to the same terms and conditions as provided in subsection (a), the disabled and persons sixty-five years of age or older, who are domiciled in Tennessee as defined in subsection (a), may be enrolled in courses for credit at state supported colleges and universities without payment of tuition charges, maintenance fees, student activity fees or registration fees, except that the Board of Trustees of the University of Tennessee and the Board of Regents of the State University and Community College system may provide for a service fee which may be charged by the institutions under their respective jurisdictions, the fee to be for the purpose of helping to defray the cost of keeping the records of such students and not to exceed $70 a semester. Revised 7/1/08