Section 504 is a federal law designed to protect the rights of individuals with disabilities in programs and activities that receive federal financial assistance from the U.S. Department of Education. Section 504 provides: “No otherwise qualified individual with a disability in the United States . . . shall, solely by reason of her or his disability, be excluded from the participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance . . . .”

The United States Department of Education, Office for Civil Rights (OCR) enforces Section 504 in programs and activities that receive federal financial assistance from the U.S. Department of Education. Recipients of this federal financial assistance include public school districts, institutions of higher education, and other state and local education agencies. The regulations implementing Section 504 in the context of educational institutions appear at 34 C.F.R. Part 104.

The Section 504 regulations require a school district to provide a “free appropriate public education” (FAPE) to each qualified student with a disability who is in the school district’s jurisdiction, regardless of the nature or severity of the disability. Under Section 504, a FAPE consists of the provision of regular or special education and related aids and services designed to meet the student’s individual educational needs as adequately as the needs of nondisabled students are met.

OCR enforces Section 504 and Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (Title II), including the conforming amendment to Section 504 that affects the meaning of a disability under Section 504.

Section 504 also protects employees: “No qualified individual with a disability shall, on the basis of his or her disability, be subjected to discrimination in employment under any program or activity” receiving federal financial assistance.