What challenges do students with disabilities face as they transition from two-year to four-year colleges?
Students with disabilities report special challenges in making a successful transition from two- to four-year schools. One hundred nineteen students with disabilities from nineteen two-year colleges in Washington participated in a survey conducted by DO-IT. Their top concerns about transferring to a four-year institution were in the following categories:
- Differences in disabled student services
- Inadequate financial support
- The transferring process
- Housing/transportation
- Personal/family issues
- Differences in academic requirements
Professionals who work with postsecondary students with disabilities report the following range of challenges students with disabilities encounter that negatively impact successful transition to four-year schools:
- Differences in academic requirements
- Poor study skills
- Inadequate self-advocacy skills
- Inadequate academic preparation
- Financial support
- Lack of mentors with disabilities
- Differences in disabled student services
A total of forty-six faculty and staff from two- and four-year institutions of higher education from twenty-four states who participated in focused discussions of these issues also reported that transfer students face challenges in the following areas:
- Moving away from home
- Understanding and working through the transfer process
- Securing financial support
- Meeting the admissions requirements of the four-year institutions and specific degree programs
- Adjusting to differences in disability documentation requirements
- Adjusting to differences in the disabled student services offered
- Adjusting to a larger, less personal environment where it is more difficult to make friends and get to know faculty
- Meeting the academic standards of the four-year school
For more specifics, consult Moving On: The Two-Four Step or view the video by the same title.