The State of Postsecondary Education for Persons with Intellectual Disabilities: What Are the Perceptions of Key Stakeholders?

Colleen Thoma, Kira Austin, Edwin Achola, Cecilia Batalo, Dawn Carlson, Kim Boyd, Leslie Bozeman, Diane Wolfe

Department of Special Education, Chesterfield County Public Schools, Midlothian, USA.
Department of Special Education, Fluvanna County Public Schools, Palymyra, USA.
National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research, U.S. Deparment of Education, Washington, DC, USA.
School of Education, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, USA.

DOI: 10.4236/ce.2012.326168                

Abstract

Evidence indicates that post-high school outcomes for students with disabilities look different from the post-high school outcomes of a traditional high school graduate and vastly different from a student without disabilities who has the opportunity to go to college. In fact, these statistics are widely used to advocate for increased efforts to providing access to higher education opportunities for students with and without disabilities. Beyond descriptive literature, little information is available on the current state of knowledge in the field of post secondary education for students with ID. This qualitative investigation examined transcripts generated from presentations by a variety of experts in the field of PSE-providing an overview of knowledge on PSE for students with ID. Among other important findings, this study indicates that there is limited clarity on the outcomes of participating in PSE, economics of higher education and foundation of evidence on providing PSE for students with intellectual disabilities. The implications of these findings for future research, policy and practice are also presented.

Keywords

Postsecondary Education; Intellectual Disabilities; Qualitative Study

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

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