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If you are filing for disability on the basis of a mental impairment, be careful about mentioning whether or not you are in currently in school, either full or part time. Can this hurt your case? This is a matter of opinion. However, speaking as one who has been in the position of making decisions on SSD and SSI claims, and interacting on a daily basis with other disability examiners, I would yes, this can potentially hurt your case. Why? There is no official stance by social security that enrollment in school should have a bearing on one's claim. However, as I've pointed out DisabilitySecrets.com, perhaps hundreds of times, disability determination is not nearly so objective a process as many would have us believe. In fact, the process of making decisions on social security disability and SSI disability claims can be fairly subjective, and, thus, inherently unfair. Regarding subjectivity, a disability examiner or judge (disability hearings are conducted by an administrative law judge) may make the assumption that your condition must not be particularly severe if you are able to persist in an academic curriculum. This is unfortunate because, as anyone with a mental disorder well knows, academic coursework does not impose the same type of demands that competitive employment does. An individual in school can choose the types of classes they take. They can, depending on the policies of the school and the instructor, miss a certain number of classes and "make the work up". They can drop classes. They can choose a morning, midday, or evening schedule. None of these options exist with competitive employment and for this reason to draw a parallel between the ability to go to school and the ability to work is erroneous and flawed. Yet disability examiners and judges will fall prey to this flawed thinking. Is the suggestion being made that you should lie? No...but simply be careful about what you say and to whom, and what information you provide on paper as well. And remember: if you have a pending claim for disability, or are about to file for disability, just because you are in school today, doesn't mean you won't have flunked out or withdrawn from school due to a mental decompensation two weeks from now. 
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