Mentors are often used to support students with intellectual disability as they transition to college. They are typically other college students who assist with academics, adjusting to college life, connect these new college students to campus clubs, organizations, and services, and support them to engage in campus activities. Such mentor models are as diverse as the institutions in which the students are enrolled.

This document provides information to colleges and universities interested in establishing a mentor program by outlining three current mentor models: 1) a volunteer/friendship model at a private university, 2) a hybrid volunteer/service-learning model at a public state university, and 3) a primarily paid model at a community college. Differences between the programs reflect not only the mentor models of paid, volunteer, or service learning, but also the type of campus, age and size of the program, and any dual purposes of the mentors themselves.