Think College Fast Fact #28 describes the ABLE Act passed in 2014, and explains that through the passage of this Act, people with disabilities have the opportunity to open tax-advantaged savings accounts. This national public policy recognized the significant costs and extra expenses associated with living with a disability and opened the door to saving without impacting eligibility for means-tested benefits, such as SSI and Medicaid.
This publication features critical data points highlighting the positive effects of postsecondary education on employment for individuals with intellectual disability. The data show that people with intellectual disability who attend college have higher employment rates and increased earnings.
This publication provides an explanation of the Strengthening Career and Technical Education for the 21st Century Act, or Perkins V, which is the reauthorization of the Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical Education Act (2006), and the benefits it provides to students with intellectual disabilities. There are many implications for students transitioning from secondary to postsecondary school who are pursuing career and technical education; those are detailed in this Fast Fact.
Completing a program of study and earning a credential is a mark of student perseverance and success. Student completion rates can tell us how well colleges and universities support students in completing an educational program. A research study by the US Department of Education reported students who completed non-degree certificate programs had higher rates of employment than peers who did not (Burns et al., 2020), and found 52% of students who began a non-degree certificate program completed it within three years.
Employment is one of the most significant markers of independence and success for a person. One’s ability to secure and maintain employment in a paid position can have a significant impact on their overall quality of life, community participation, financial self-sufficiency, and pathway to a long-lasting career. Unfortunately, the paid employment rate for youth and adults with a disability remains markedly lower than their peers without a disability.
All inclusive postsecondary education (IPSE) programs are "housed" in a particular department, school, institute, or other administrative center on a college or university campus. This decision is unique to each institution and IPSE program. This publication shares the locations of current programs based on a survey and data from Transition and Postsecondary Education Programs for Students with Intellectual Disability (TPSID) projects.
This publication shares findings from a secondary analysis of the NLTS 2012 dataset, looking specifically at parent expectations for students with intellectual disability and autism and compared them to those of students in other disability groups. Specifically, parent expectations around living and financial independence were examined. Findings of this study are in line with those from previous studies, showing that parents of students with intellectual disability and autism have lower expectations for their children post-school than parents of other students in other disability groups.
This document was created in 2022 to provide an overview of the priorities for the Think College Inclusive Higher Education Network. As outlined here, this new project will focus on developing and supporting regional alliances for inclusive higher education, a public awareness campaign to increase awareness about inclusive higher education, workgroups on employment partnerships and career and technical education, and training and technical assistance.
This Fast Fact provides a summary of the findings shared in the Annual Report of the Cohort 2 TPSID Model Demonstration Projects (Year 5, 2019–2020). Findings are shared across multiple categories including employment, vocational rehabilitation, academics, academic and employment supports, residential services, program completion and credential attainment, and one-year outcomes.
In addition to academic programming, Transition and Postsecondary Programs for Students with Intellectual Disabilities (TPSID) have a directive to ensure that enrolled students with intellectual disability (ID) are prepared for gainful employment. One study found students with ID who obtained a paid job while enrolled in a college or university program were almost 15 times more likely to have a paid job at exit than those who did not obtain a paid job while enrolled (Grigal, Papay, Smith, Hart, & Verbeck, 2018).
