Student and Visitor Use of Service and Assistance Animals

Your K-12 school, college, or university must respond differently to a student or visitor who wants to bring a “service animal” to campus than it would for a student bringing an “emotional support animal” to their campus residence. The terms have different definitions. 

The Department of Justice (DoJ), which interprets sections of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) that apply to public places, provides guidance about what institutions can ask students and visitors with disabilities about service animals. 

According to the ADA: 

• Definition of service animal: A service animal is narrowly defined as a dog (or, in certain circumstances, a miniature horse) that has been individually trained to do work or perform tasks for people with disabilities. These include tasks such as guiding a blind person, recognizing seizures, or retrieving items.   
• Responding to accommodation requests: Limited inquiries are allowed only when it is not obvious what service the animal provides. Institutions may ask only two questions: “Is the service animal required because of a disability?” and “What work or task has the animal been trained to perform?” Institutions cannot ask about the person’s disability, require medical documentation, require a special identification card or training documentation for the animal, or ask that the animal demonstrate its ability to perform the work or task. 

The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), meanwhile, takes the position that the Fair Housing Act (FHA), which protects people with disabilities from housing discrimination, applies to K-12 school, college, and university living areas. The FHA, however, uses a much broader definition than the ADA, referring to “assistance animals” that include both service animals and emotional support animals (ESAs). 

According to the FHA: 

• Definition of ESA: An ESA is any kind of animal (regardless of type, breed, or size) that alleviates a disability, including those that solely provide emotional support. These animals give people companionship, relieve loneliness, and may help with depression or anxiety, but — because they do not require training to perform specific work assisting people with disabilities — the ADA does not recognize them as legally required disability accommodations, in contrast to service animals. 
• Responding to student ESA housing accommodation requests: In the separate context of housing accommodations, HUD follows the interactive process typically used to accommodate students with disabilities — the student discloses the disability, the institution verifies it, and together they find reasonable accommodations. Under the FHA, institutions can require proof of a disability and documentation that an ESA provides therapeutic support or relieves symptoms of that disability. 
  
  In May 2026, HUD rescinded prior guidance presumptively requiring housing providers (including educational institutions with residence facilities) to waive their pet restrictions for untrained ESAs, as they must for trained service animals. The agency stated it will now apply the ADA standard and limit federal enforcement of the FHA (such as investigating administrative discrimination complaints filed with HUD) to animals that are individually trained to perform disability-related tasks.

• Take These Actions Involving Service Animals and ESAs

To ensure your institution complies with requirements involving service animals and ESAs, seek legal advice and do the following: 

• Review policies involving students and visitors with disabilities. Ensure they comply with ADA rules regarding service animals.
• Avoid copying other institutions’ policies and procedures. Their practices may be out of date or incorrect.
• Revise policies to distinguish between “service” and ESAs or other “assistance” animals (such as therapy animals).
• Engage in the interactive process for  ESA as well as service animal requests. Ensure requesters have disabilities alleviated or assisted by these  animal.
• Do not require students to prove an ESA is certified or has received specialized training.
• If you offer student housing, consult with counsel regarding compliance with HUD rules on assistance animals in light of the agency’s May 2026 enforcement guidance.  

Additional Resources   

ADA Requirements: Service Animals  

HUD, Enforcement Guidance — Assessing Requests for the Use of an Animal as a Reasonable Accommodation Under the Fair Housing Act 

ADA National Network: Service Animals and Emotional Support Animals