Spring 2025 Extended Priority Deadline: November 18, 2024
Spring 2025 Regular Deadline: December 2, 2024
Disability Studies is an emerging academic field that explores disability and society through the lens of overlapping perspectives, including social sciences, humanities, science, and the law. The BA in Disability Studies online degree program provides a ‘person-centered’ approach to the study of disability. As the first undergraduate program of its kind in the country, the program provides graduates with the skills to improve the lives of people with disabilities and with an educational credential to advance their careers.
The BA in Disability Studies program offers both a strong foundation in disability theory and history as well as opportunities for in-depth study in one of four concentrations:
Intellectual/Developmental Disabilities
Autism Spectrum Disorder
Mental/Behavioral Health
Interdisciplinary Disability Studies
Students in the BA in Disability Studies:
Learn the history that many textbooks overlook
Develop strategies and skills to support children and adults with disabilities
Learn how to interpret disability law and policy
Acquire concrete skills to remove social and physical barriers to full inclusion and integration
Read first-hand experiences of people with disabilities
Learn new ways of thinking about disability and society
Career and Academic Prospects
Graduates of the BA in Disability Studies program gain the knowledge, values, and skills that are sought by agencies providing services to individuals in community programs. Graduates are also prepared for graduate work in disability studies, social work, rehabilitation counseling, physical and occupational therapy, education, sociology, psychology, anthropology, and liberal studies.
Articulation Agreements
Articulation agreements are formal agreements between CUNY School of Professional Studies, (CUNY SPS) and two-year colleges and universities, allowing students to transfer the maximum number of credits with ease to our BA in Disability Studies program from institutions with which we have an established transfer process in place.
Panelists specializing in the arts, athletics, and technology discuss how intersections in technology across disability culture successfully address ableism and increase diversity and inclusion.
Applicants must possess at least 24 transferrable credits from an accredited institution with a minimum GPA of 2.5 on a 4.0 scale. Applicants need to demonstrate basic proficiency in reading, writing, and math.
Application Deadlines
Spring 2025 Extended Priority Deadline: November 18, 2024
"CUNY SPS has expanded my knowledge and understanding about interacting and working with people with disabilities. It helped me become the assistant director of assistive technology at the College of Staten Island."
Recent News About Bachelor of Arts in Disability Studies
CUNY SPS community members gathered at the 11th Annual Scholarship Reception, which featured speeches by scholarship recipients Alyssia Garcia and Rosanna Arias Gutierrez.
CUNY SPS alum John Robinson (MA Disability Studies '23) was recently appointed as professor of practice at Syracuse University's College of Professional Studies' Office of Microcredentials. As a committed advocate for disability rights, Robinson will also help coordinate and scale the Workshop in Entrepreneurship for People with Disabilities, a non-credit microcredential program designed to empower people with disabilities to either become entrepreneurs or to be better prepared for employment.
Full Curriculum
