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Although peer-mentoring relationships are critical to including youth with intellectual and developmental disabilities in postsecondary educational settings, little is known about the motivations and experiences of peer mentors. To investigate, we conducted a mixed-methods study in which 17 volunteer peer mentors completed the Volunteer Functions Inventory (VFI) and participated in interviews about their motivations and experiences.

As increasing numbers of students with disabilities access postsecondary education, research studies and literature reviews have investigated the needs of these students who chose to pursue postsecondary education. These articles included studies that (a) asked students with disabilities to identify needs and (b) summarized needs in literature reviews about students with disabilities in postsecondary education. This article summarizes needs and recommendations from college students with disabilities and authors who reviewed related literature from 1995–2006.

Pre-planning is key to achieving goals, and this article describes the importance of planning ahead to optimize utilization of resources available to students. Describing the necessary steps and process of creating supports, this article emphasizes collaboration and person-centered planning. It also highlights some of the supports and strategies that some students are using.  

Staff from the Institute for Community Inclusion, at the University of Massachusetts Boston, asked 50 students with intellectual disabilities who have participated in inclusive college experiences to share how they perceive they have benefited from attending college. This article compiles some student responses on six different aspects of college life.

This article highlights the importance of postsecondary education for young adults with disabilities. It notes the increasing demand for postsecondary qualifications in growing career fields and the earnings gap among education levels. Additionally, this article discusses the importance of not only access to postsecondary education for students with disabilities, but also persistence and program completion. 

Article includes sidebar, Postsecondary Education: A National Priority.

Think College Insight Brief #29 shares outcomes of 23 graduates from one program at University of North Carolina Greensboro.  Data are shared on employment since graduation, current employment, living arranagement, financial services utilized, participation in community activities, whether they were registered to vote and whether they had a driver's license. 

The FY2015 annual report of data from the Think College National Coordinating Center on the Transition Postsecondary Education Programs for Students with Intellectual Disabiities (TPSID) projects.  These annual reports share data and analysis from data collected from a total of 54 TPSID projects annually from 2010-2015 on the programmatic structures and student characteristics and student outcomes. 

The purpose of this study was to explore the perceptions and experiences of peer mentors who served in a mentor role for students with intellectual disabilities in a university-level educational program. The study used face-to-face interviews with eleven general-population students who had worked at least one semester as a peer mentor with students with intellectual disabilities. The interview transcripts and participant characteristics formed the study data. The qualitative transcript data was analyzed using the constant comparative method of joint coding and analysis.

This report, funded by the South Carolina College Transition Connection, outlines issues related to transportation needs of individuals with intellectual or developmental disabilities.  It provides a literature review, describes common barriers and potential solutions, and offers travel assessment and training resources.

Project UNITE emerged out of the partnership between the South Carolina Vocational Rehabilitation Department (SCVRD) and the CarolinaLIFE program. This partnership has been extremely strong; however, both entities believe that this collaboration could be strengthened by formalizing and outlining roles and activities of these critical partners as student transition into independent living environments.