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Postsecondary Education
Completion of a postsecondary degree has been linked to higher employment rates and higher income in the general population. At the same time, individuals with disabilities are less than half as likely to obtain a postsecondary degree, and thus are less likely to be employed or to have a similar income, as are individuals without disabilities.
Going to college today can mean attending a 4-year college or university, a 2-year community college, or a technical institute or trade school. It can mean working toward a bachelor's degree, an associate's degree (A.A.), or a certificate showing you've mastered the skills needed for a technical career. It can mean studying full-time or part-time, or living at school or commuting from home. It can even mean going to a community college to learn a new skill after you've gotten a degree and worked for a while.
Earning and learning go hand-in-hand. The more years of schooling you complete, the higher your income is likely to be -- and the less likely you are to be unemployed. A graphic image developed by Postsecondary Education OPPORTUNITY dramatically illustrates the relationship between years of education, employment rates, and income
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Post-Secondary Education Links:
PACER Resources:
- ADA, Section 504 & Postsecondary Education
- Mapping Your Dreams - Education
- Parenting Post-Secondary Students with Disabilities: Becoming the Mentor, Advocate, and Guide Your Young Adult Needs, a Parent Brief developed by PACER Center in partnership with the National Center on Secondary Education and Transition
- Post-Secondary Education Fact Sheet
- "Postsecondary Education: Preparation is a Necessary Ingredient for Success," a 2004 article from the PACESETTER newsletter
Resources from other Organizations:
- To contact a state's AHEAD (Association on Higher Education and Disability, a professional organization of Disabled Students Support Service professionals) organization
- Association on Higher Education and Disability (AHEAD)
- Best Practices in Postsecondary Settings for Students with Severe Disabilities
- College Navigator is a free consumer information tool designed to help students, parents, and others get information on nearly 7,000 postsecondary institutions in the United States.
- College Students and Disability Law, The Journal of Special Education
- Creating Options: A Resource on Financial Aid for Students with Disabilities 2003 Edition
- Disability Coordinators of Minnesota State Colleges and Universities
- DIGESTS from the former ERIC Clearinghouse for Community Colleges
- Federal Financial Aid and College: An Overview for Students with disabilities, a fact sheet from HEATH Resource Center
- Financial Aid for Individuals with Disabilities, a resource paper from the HEATH Resource Center
- Financing Your Education: Options for Students Who Are Deaf of Hard of Hearing, Northeast Technical Assistance center (NETAC)
- Funding Education Beyond High School: The Guide to Federal Student Aid
- HEATH Resource Center, a national clearinghouse on postsecondary education for individuals with disabilities
- Higher Learning = Higher Earning; What You Need to Know about College and Careers, a guide for middle and high school students from the American Youth Policy Forum
- Hot Links to College Education, from Minnesota Transfer
- Making Accommodations: The Legal World of Students with Disabilities, ACADEME
- Institute for Commmunity Inclusion
ICI publications provide an overview of research on postsecondary education and options, and ways to increase access to experiential education -- mentoring, internships, job shadowing, and so on—for college students with disabilities. - Minnesota Higher Education Services Office
- Minnesota State Colleges and Universities, including a free guide to all Minnesota Colleges and Universities
- Minnesota's Tech Prep College Partners
- National Coalition for Students with Disabilities
- On Campus Outreach (OCO)
On this site, you will find articles, fact sheets, on-line training modules, contacts for programs in Maryland, and related websites on serving students with intellectual disabilities in postsecondary settings who still receive special education services in public schools. - PEPNet Resource Center, a federally funded consortium of four regional centers providing information on postsecondary issues of interest to students who are deaf or hard of hearing. One page handouts and other resources on postsecondary accommodations and issues for students who are deaf and hard of hearing are available on the web site of the Northeast Technical Assistance Center affiliated with PEPNet
- Postsecondary Education Options for Students with Intellectual Disabilities
- Postsecondary Education Research Center (PERC) Project
The Postsecondary Education Research Center (PERC) project, coordinated by TransCen, Inc. has a website that provides information and resources on college options for students with intellectual disabilities. The site provides answers to frequently asked questions (FAQs) related to developing or expanding services for students with intellectual disabilities in college settings. It also provides access to a free online evaluation tool, the PERC Self-Assessment Tool, that allows users to evaluate aspects of programs or services for students with intellectual disabilities on college campuses. This self-assessment tool provides a snapshot of the quality of existing services and provides users with a concise evaluation report. It also provides users with the opportunity to create an itemized action plan to that can be used to address areas in need of improvement. - Postsecondary Innovative Transition and Technology (Post-ITT), a web site offering a collection of resources and activities to aid students, parents, educators and Disability Services coordinators in the task of planning for a student's transition from secondary to postsecondary education.
- Preparing for College: An Online Tutorial, from the DO-IT Program at the University of Washington
- Requesting Academic Accommodations, an article from LDOnline
- The Right Stuff: A Professor's Primer on the Rights of College Students with Learning Disabilities, National Center for Learning Disabilities
- Scholarship.com
- Section 504: The Law and It's Impact on Postsecondary Education, the American Council on Education
- Serving Students with Disabilities at the Community College, 2002 Eric Digest
- Social Security Work Incentives and Postsecondary Students with Disabilities
- Steps Forward Inclusive Post-Secondary Educaiton Societs
STEPS Forward Inclusive Post-secondary Education Society was incorporated in 2001 by a group of parents concerned that there was no place in society for their children with intellectual disabilities as they reached adulthood. Their mandate is to transform post-secondary education by modeling inclusion for students with intellectual disabilities in the province of British Columbia, starting at the University of British Columbia (STEPS-Campus). - Student Self-Assessment (Section of an excellent on-line guide to preparing for post-secondary education developed by the WNY Collegiate Consortium of Disability Advocates)
- Students with Disabilities in Career and Technical Education, ERIC Digest No. 230
- Students with Disabilities Preparing for Postsecondary Education: Know Your Rights and Responsibilities, a booklet from the U. S. Dept. of Education
- Summer Pre-College Programs for Students with Disabilities, a resource paper from the HEATH Resource Center
- ThinkCollege.net
Youth with intellectual disabilities have not had many chances to go to college. This website provides information and links to those interested in finding out more about the possibilities - Transition Coalition
The Transition Coalition provides online information on topics focusing on the transition from school to adult life including a database containing descriptions of over 100 community-based transition programs for students ages 18-21 from across the United States and down-loadable publications for families and professionals. - Transition Guide to Post-Secondary Education from the Wisconsin Department of Education
- Transition to Postsecondary Education Community of Practice -- a web-based forum hosted by the National Center on Secondary Education and Transition
- University of MN Disabled Student Cultural Center
- U.S. Department of Education, Office of Civil Rights (complaints about access and accommodations are handled by the OCR)
- Virginia Department of Education web site of College Planning Resources for Students with Disabilities
- Virginia's College Guide for Students With Disabilities
- What is a "Reasonable" Accommodation?, Jane E. Jarrow, Ph.D.
PACER's site offers many PDF files for download, which require 
