The Special Education department received a building of its own in 1938 with a donation made by the Horace H. and Mary A. Rackham fund of $350,000. The new building met the criteria set by Rackham’s will since it aided the disabled.

Rackham Hall was the first facility in the nation built specifically for teacher training in special education. The new building not only housed the Special Education Department, but also a Laboratory School where teachers learned techniques for educating students with special needs. Student teachers taught classes for the deaf and hard of hearing, blind and partially-sighted, cognitively impaired, and physically handicapped. Architects sited the building so that all the entrances to the building were made from ground level, relieving children, especially the disabled, from climbing steps to enter the building. Inside, Franklin Tiles decorate the areas around water fountains and along walls. Designs include fish, frog, crabs, a cougar, cranes, and leaves. Some of the tile designs are listed in the Franklin design sheets as early as the 1920s. The school could accommodate more than two hundred children. The ground floor contained six classrooms as well as a gymnasium and auditorium.

Today, most of the Special Education classes are housed in the Porter College of Education. Rackham was home to the Children’s Institute until 2011 when it underwent renovations. It now houses the recently established physician assistant program, whose inaugural courses were held in May 2014.