The Princeton Review Has Released the 15th Edition of "The K&W Guide to Colleges for Students with Learning Differences"

NEW YORK, NY, February 16, 2021 / — The Princeton Review®, known for its education services and resources that help students research, gain admission to, and succeed at the colleges best for them, today released the 15th edition of The K&W Guide to Colleges for Students with Learning Differences by Marybeth Kravets, M.A., and Imy F. Wax, M.S. (Penguin Random House / Princeton Review, $31.99, February 16, 2021).

The K&W Guide—as the book has come to be known among educators and college advisors—was first published in 1991. Regularly updated and in print for thirty years, it has been a one-of-a-kind resource for high school students with ADHD (Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder), ASD (Autism Spectrum Disorder), and other learning differences, as well as for their parents.

This unique guidebook is the result of a longstanding collaboration by two very dedicated women in a suburb of Chicago. The book was conceived when Marybeth Kravets, a college counselor at a public high school, and Imy F. Wax—whose daughter, diagnosed with multiple learning differences, was a first-year student at the school—teamed up to identify prospective colleges that would be ideal for the student. (Notes follow on the story of their collaboration and quest.) 

The new 15th edition of The K&W Guide includes:

  • Profiles of 360 colleges with excellent academic programs, services, and accommodations for students with learning differences. The profiles provide information on the college offerings, cost, and requirements for admission (including updates on test-optional policies) and graduation, as well as opportunities for financial aid.
  • A list of 47 programs offering alternative post-secondary options for students and adults with learning differences. The annotated list includes schools offering various options from structured living to instructional and vocational programs.
  • General guidelines for documentation of a learning difference, of ADHD, and of ASD.
  • Advice from people with distinct perspectives on the subject. Among them: a disability rights attorney, and parents of a student with learning differences.
  • Supplementary resources accessible online including an index of schools in the book by support level, a quick contact reference list, and a college interview preparation form.

How The K&W Guide came to be:

In 1987, Marybeth Kravets was a counselor at Deerfield (IL) High School, one of the top public high schools in the U.S. Imy Wax was the parent of a daughter (then a first-year student at the school), who had been diagnosed at age two with multiple learning differences. Imy reached out to Marybeth for guidance to help her daughter navigate a successful path to college. Imy knew that a targeted plan would be essential for her daughter to attain that dream. Like many parents, then and now, Imy was eager to learn which colleges might be ideal prospects for her child.

Unfortunately, at the time, there was no college guide or other detailed resource available that listed colleges that might be ideal for students with learning differences. Marybeth and Imy joined forces to research this topic. Over the next two years, they identified 150 colleges that offered distinct programs or services for students with learning differences. Knowing their research would be useful for other advisors and parents, Marybeth and Imy consolidated their detailed information into a college guidebook. In 1991, Education Publishing Service (Cambridge, MA), published the first edition of their book and subsequently published the second and third editions. Since 1994, this still singular book has been published as part of The Princeton Review's line of education resources and updated bi-annually.

Since The K&W Guide's debut, Marybeth and Imy have authored articles for professional and parent magazines on the book's subject, been sourced as national experts in their respective fields, and been interviewed by media from the New York Times to The Wall Street Journal. Their research for this book continues and they remain committed to its abiding mission which they describe as "a labor of love."  In their introduction to the new 15th edition, they say, "The K&W Guide is created by us with a great deal of passion and hope that families will feel they have an excellent resource to provide guidance and that their students will feel confident that there is a dream to dream."

In 1996, Imy's daughter—the determined teen whose college dream inspired the collaboration that became the book—graduated from college. More impressively, but not surprisingly: she graduated cum laude. She had been accepted by all eight colleges to which she applied. She went on to graduate school and continued her education journey.

The K&W Guide to Colleges for Students with Learning Differences is one of more than 150 books in a line developed by The Princeton Review and published by Penguin Random House. Other books in the line include College Admissions During COVID, The Best 386 Colleges, Paying for College, guides for the SAT®, ACT® and other admission tests, and guides to graduate and professional school admission exams.

About the Authors

Marybeth Kravets, M.A., is President of Marybeth Kravets & Associates, a firm that provides educational and college consulting to students with and without learning differences. She is Director of College Counseling at Wolcott College Prep (Chicago), a high school for bright, motivated college-bound students who learn differently. Marybeth was the college counselor at Deerfield High School (Deerfield (IL) for 31 years and VP for College Partnerships for Chicago Scholars. She is past President of the National Association for College Admissions Counseling and the Illinois Association for College Admissions Counseling. She is a recipient of a Community Service Award from the Harvard University Club of Chicago. Marybeth received her M.A. in Counseling from Wayne State Univ., and her B.A. in Education from the Univ. of Michigan. She resides in Chicago.

Imy Wax, M.S., LCPC, NBCC, CEP, is an educational and therapeutic consultant, and a psychotherapist. She is the founder and President of The Aspire Group, PC. For more than 30 years, Imy has been an objective voice guiding, supporting, and empowering families in making informed decisions that secure and enhance their children’s futures. She travels more than 100,000 miles each year visiting traditional and non-traditional schools, colleges and post-secondary programs, and serving as a guest speaker at professional conferences and workshops. She has appeared on television and radio and been quoted in numerous journals. Imy believes every child’s journey is unique and “there should never be a closed door to fulfilling one’s hopes and dreams.” She resides in Deerfield, IL

About The Princeton Review

 The Princeton Review®, is a leading tutoring, test prep, and college admission services company. Every year, it helps millions of college- and graduate school–bound students achieve their education and career goals through online and in-person courses delivered by a network of more than 4,000 teachers and tutors, online resources, and its more than 150 print and digital books published by Penguin Random House. The company’s Tutor.com brand is one of the largest online tutoring services in the U.S. It comprises a community of thousands of tutors who have delivered more than 20 million one-to-one tutoring sessions. The Princeton Review is headquartered in New York, NY. The Princeton Review is not affiliated with Princeton University. For more information, visit PrincetonReview.com and the company's Media Center. Follow the company on Twitter (@ThePrincetonRev) and Instagram (@theprincetonreview).

Praise for The K&W Guide to Colleges for Students with Learning Differences:

"Provides up-to-date information for the many programs available in colleges and universities across the United States. Each of these programs have their unique institutional missions, program objectives, operational directions, and services but all are vested in supporting and helping students." – Foreword by Dr. Arlene Tan, Director, The Achieve Program, Southern Illinois University

"There is a wide variety of colleges that can serve students with LDs. In The K&W Guide, a popular college handbook for students with learning differences, Marybeth Kravets and Imy F. Wax describe basic programs as those that comply with the federal mandate to provide reasonable accommodations to all students with appropriate documentation." – The Atlantic

"A comprehensive resource for selecting the right college for students with learning disabilities." – The Exceptional Parent

"An intelligent, well-written, exhaustively researched foray into the special needs of students whose ability to learn is hampered in some way…. Choosing a college that will be a good fit for any student can be difficult; choosing one for a student with special learning-focused needs adds an extra layer of complexity. The K&W Guide…does not reduce that complexity, but it can certainly help point students and parents toward schools worth looking into further, while eliminating ones whose LD programs do not seem to address the specific, individual needs of a particular student." – InfoDad.com


"I highly recommend The K&W Guide, an 800-page encyclopedia of college resources for students with learning differences." – Opinion article in InsideHigherEd.com by Matthew Pietrafetta, CEO of Academic Approach

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THE K&W GUIDE TO COLLEGES FOR STUDENTS WITH LEARNING DIFFERENCES – 15th Edition
by Marybeth Kravets, M.A. and Imy F. Wax, M.S.
Penguin Random House / Princeton Review • Trade paperback $31.99 (Canada $41.99)
On Sale Date February 16, 2021 • 721 pages
ISBN 978-0-525-57030-1  

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Contact: Jeanne Krier, Publicist for The Princeton Review and Tutor.com, pressoffice@review.com