Abstract
Over the past three decades, the number of students with learning disabilities enrolling in post-secondary education has increased (Astin et al., 1988). Recent estimates indicate that 45% of students with learning disabilities transition to some form of post-secondary school within four years of high school graduation (Newman, Wagner, Camento, & Knokey, 2009). Although there is an increase in enrollment, their graduation rate continues to be much lower than that for students without disabilities (Cortiella & Horowitz, 2014). The graduation rate of college students with learning disabilities from four-year institutions is only 34 percent compared to 62.1 percent graduation rate for students without learning disabilities (Cortiella & Horowitz 2014). As more students with learning disabilities enter higher education, the experiences and factors of success leading to the completion of a four-year diploma must be examined. The purpose of this research was to explore and gain insight into the experiences of students with learning disabilities who have either attended a two-year college and then transferred to the current four-year university and those students who have started as a freshman (i.e. native, non-transfer) at the four-year university. An online questionnaire was used to obtain demographic and descriptive quantitative information and to solicit responses to semi-structured and open-ended prompts regarding self-advocacy and coping skills, support systems, and attitudes towards use of accommodations, and impact of learning disability on choice of major and educational experience. Participants were 22 students with learning disabilities at one public university in Northern California. Five themes emerged: (a) factors that influenced requesting academic accommodations; (b) rationale for choosing not to use approved academic accommodations; (c) rationale for self-disclosure of disability to professors; (d) impact of learning disabilities on choice of major; (e) and overall academic challenges. Other findings indicate that students perceived courses on coping strategies, study skills, and self-advocacy as well as the use of study groups and structured tutoring to be beneficial. Due to the small sample size, comparison between native and transfer student data could not be made. Recommendations for practice include suggestions for educators and services providers to evaluate their service delivery models to ensure these services are accessible and available to students. Additional research with a larger sample is needed to further investigate the themes that emerged and any potential differences between transfer and native students with learning disabilities.