A student with cerebral palsy finds success with online education

College can be a challenging time for anyone. Students have to get through the admissions process, handle new levels of academic rigor, and select their majors. Tucker McKiven faces all of these challenges and more.

“He can only use one hand effectively and it affects walking and so forth. It’s everything, it’s Cerebral Palsy,” explained his father, Mel McKiven, from their home in Alabama.

But his 20-year-old son Tucker was not about to let anything keep him from getting a top-notch college education. Before setting foot on a campus anywhere, he first tried dealing with the admissions-requirements hurdle.

“He has disabilities… and doing accommodations with ACT or SAT… is very difficult. Especially in math; he needs all kinds of things,” explained Mel. “We decided well, we’ll either go ACT-optional somewhere [or] we’ll go to the community college. To be honest, we were not that happy with what they were doing at the community college, the quality of the courses and so forth.”

Mel, a professor himself, keeps up with news in higher education and read about edX’s partnership with Arizona State University and the creation of Global Freshman Academy.

The benefits were clear: Tucker could skip the entire admissions process and begin immediately on college coursework – for credit – without having to tackle the physical logistics of sitting in a testing center for the ACT or SAT exams. Moreover, he could complete classes on his own time, in a comfortable home setting, and receive real college credit – all with the educational quality and rigor he sought, but could not find at community college.

Jumping in, Tucker immediately found GFA courses on edX challenging and captivating. “It’s hard… had to do a lot of labs,” he said of his class on solar systems. He added that he was enjoying the Western Civilization class he was taking.

The ability to take classes from home has been a real advantage for Tucker, Mel explained. “On campus he would have to have somebody help him get around. EdX has done a good job on the accommodations that are needed, and that’s a big factor in doing this. It’s just easy, straightforward, so no problems at all. Very accessible, it’s impressive in fact.”

It’s just easy, straightforward, so no problems at all. Very accessible, it’s impressive in fact.”

Tucker intends to continue with his GFA studies and accumulate credits. When he completes his freshman year requirements, he may try to transfer those credits to a local school, where – having proven himself academically – he can get the quality education he seeks while remaining close to home and able to get the help he needs. He’s optimistic about his educational future.

“I am doing really well,” Tucker added.

Has an edX course helped you overcome a challenge? Let us know. 

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