Abstract
If students with disabilities have successfully completed the requirements for being accepted into college and are also successful in completing the admission process, their ability to succeed (in receiving a degree) may be mitigated due to multiple factors such as lack of services and accommodations, lack of awareness of services that are available, and most often a student’s failure to self-identify. Over the decades, many of these issues have been addressed with changes to federal and state regulations associated with “disabled” students. The 504 of Rehabilitation Act of 1973, Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) and other guiding laws have attempted to address issues related to the lack of services, accommodations, and awareness of services for disabled students. Considering recent progress, the current issue for students with disabilities is one of self-identification. When students receive services in kindergarten through high school, their IEP (Individual Education Plan) is mandated to be evaluated, reviewed, and updated annually, or every two years. Once a student is enrolled in an institution of higher education, the student must self-identify in order to receive any services. If students are unaware of the resources available to them, or are too embarrassed to seek assistance, they will struggle in silence, resulting in a negative experience in college and, in many cases, a failure to graduate. Over the years, students with disabilities in higher education have become the “forgotten minority.” This group consists of any student who has limited vision, hearing impairment, learning disability, developmental disability, emotional disability, or illness, physical disabilities, and learning difficulties that span a broad scale from very severe impairments to minor struggles. The aim of this study is to examine the relationship between when students self-identify for services for students with disabilities and the impact it has on their success for degree attainment.