First-to-Second-Year Persistence of Students With Disabilities in Postsecondary Institutions in the United States

The authors used the data from the Beginning Postsecondary Students Longitudinal Study survey (BPS: 04/06) to (a) examine the characteristics of the national sample of college students with disabilities and (b) identify the factors that influenced their first-to-second-year persistence in U. S. postsecondary institutions. Students with disabilities in their study display many of the characteristics that are recognized as potential risk factors for attrition in higher education. The results from chi-square tests reveal that academic and social integration and disability-related accommodations are significantly associated with first-to-second-year persistence of students with disabilities; however, when controlling for other demographic, entry, and in-college characteristics, they do not hold significant in the final logistic regression model. Among in-college characteristics, on-campus living, full-time enrollment, degree expectations, first-year GPA, and net price of attendance emerge as significant predictors of persistence of students with disabilities. Recommendations for rehabilitation counselors and disability services staff in higher education are provided.