Students with Disabilities at Degree-Granting Postsecondary Institutions. First Look. NCES 2011-018
Author: Raue, Kimberley
Date: 2011-06-00
Type: Numerical/Quantitative Data
Subjects: Higher Education,National Surveys,Institutional Characteristics,College Students,Multiple Disabilities,Student Personnel Services,Academic Accommodations (Disabilities),Educational Administration,Data Collection,Recordkeeping,Educational Policy,School Policy,Individualized Education Programs,Information Systems,Enrollment,Vocational Rehabilitation,Public Agencies,Partnerships in Education,Audits (Verification),Web Sites,Standards,Access to Information

Growing enrollments of students with disabilities in postsecondary education along with recent key legislation such as the Americans with Disabilities Act Amendments Act of 2008 and the 2008 Higher Education Opportunity Act, have generated considerable interest in research on accessibility of higher education for students with disabilities. This first look report presents findings from &quot;Students with Disabilities at Degree-Granting Postsecondary Institutions&quot;, a Postsecondary Education Quick Information System (PEQIS) survey that was designed to provide national estimates on students with disabilities at 2-year and 4-year Title IV eligible, degree-granting institutions for the 2008-09 academic year. This report provides national data about students with disabilities, the services and accommodations provided to these students, how institutions keep track of students with disabilities, institutional policies regarding disabled students, and various aspects of institutional accessibility. Specifically, the survey covered the following: (1) Whether institutions had any students enrolled who identified themselves to the institution as having a disability during the 12-month 2008-09 academic year, and if so, the total number of students with disabilities enrolled at the institution and the number of students in each of 11 specific disability categories; (2) Whether enrollments provided by institutions were unduplicated (each student with a disability was counted only once regardless of the number of disabilities he or she has) or duplicated (students with multiple disabilities were counted multiple times) to reflect differences in institutions' record-keeping practices; (3) Whether the enrollment counts included students who identified themselves as having a disability to the institution, received services and accommodations, and/or whose disabilities were verified; (4) Types of support services and accommodations provided to students with disabilities during the 12-month 2008-09 academic year; (5) Types of documentation institutions accept as sufficient, stand-alone verification of a disability; (6) Extent to which institutions work with a state vocational rehabilitation agency; (7) Institutional materials and activities designed to assist students with disabilities, including materials designed to encourage students with disabilities to identify themselves to institutions, and materials and activities to assist faculty and staff in working with these students; (8) Extent to which institutions' main websites follow accessibility guidelines for users with disabilities; (9) Whether institutions conduct various activities related to accessibility and provide various services and accommodations to the general public; and (10) Barriers to Universal Design, an approach that integrates accessibility features into the overall design of products and environments. Included among the key findings is that, during the 12-month 2008-09 academic year, 88 percent of 2-year and 4-year Title IV degree-granting postsecondary institutions reported enrolling students with disabilities. Almost all public 2-year and 4-year institutions (99 percent) and medium and large institutions (100 percent) reported enrolling students with disabilities. Appended are: (1) Standard Error Tables; (2) Technical Notes; and (3) Questionnaire. (Contains 26 tables and 9 footnotes.)