Moving On

How Students With Disabilities Can Transition from 2- to 4-year Colleges

Individuals with disabilities are under-represented in four-year postsecondary academic programs, particularly in technical fields such as science, mathematics, engineering, and technology. The documented success of some individuals with disabilities in fields where they have been underrepresented suggests there is potential to significantly increase the representation of this group in challenging academic programs and careers. Some of these individuals begin their college studies in two-year institutions.

Fewer students with disabilities attend postsecondary institutions, and, of those, fewer attend four-year institutions and eventually earn bachelors degrees than their non-disabled peers. A study conducted by the National Center for Education Statistics found that two years after high school, 63% of the students with disabilities had enrolled in some form of postsecondary education compared to 72% of the students without disabilities. Of those enrolled, 42% of the students with disabilities were in four-year schools compared to 62% without disabilities. After five years, 53% of the students with disabilities that attained a degree or certificate were still enrolled compared to 64% of the students without disabilities. Of the students with disabilities, 16% earned a bachelor's degree; 25% earned an associate's degree or vocational certificate. Of the students without disabilities, 27% attained a bachelor's degree and 25% earned an associate's degree or vocational certificate. (Horn & Berktold, 1999)

Many of the two-year college students with disabilities who have the desire and potential to succeed in a four-year postsecondary program have difficulties making a successful transition. Challenges relate to their own knowledge and skills and to the differences between two- and four-year schools.

Challenges

Students with disabilities report special challenges in making a successful transition from two- to four-year schools. 119 students with disabilities from 19 two-year colleges in Washington state participated in a survey conducted by DO-IT (Burgstahler, Crawford, & Acosta, 2001). Their top concerns about transferring to a four-year institution were in the following categories:

• differences in disabled student services
• inadequate financial support the transferring process
• housing and transportation
• personal and family issues
• differences in academic requirements

Professionals who work with postsecondary students with disabilities report a range of challenges students with disabilities encounter that negatively impact successful transitions to four-year schools. Disabled student services staff from 351 institutions of higher education participated in a survey conducted by DO-IT. They reported the greatest challenges faced by two-year college students with disabilities as they transfer to four-year schools to be the following:

• differences in academic requirements
• poor study skills
• inadequate self-advocacy skills
• inadequate academic preparation
• financial support
• lack of mentors with disabilities
• differences in disabled student services

A total of forty-six faculty and staff from two- and four-year institutions of higher education from twenty-four states who participated in focused discussions of these issues (Burgstahler, Crawford, & Acosta, 2001) also reported that transfer students face challenges in the following: