Factors Relating to the Postsecondary Success of Students with Learning Disabilities

As colleges and universities begin to admit more students with learning disabilities, it is important to examine relationships between the services and programs students receive in high school relative to their disability and their success in college. The purpose of this investigation was to examine secondary educational settings and their potential interactions with student aptitude as they contribute to success or failure of students with learning disabilities within the college setting. The students studied had either graduated with a four-year degree from a liberal arts college or had been dismissed or withdrew. The students participated in the Learning Disability (LD) Program of the college. The goal of the LD Program was to provide the student with the skills and support to function independently in the college environment. The significant results seem to indicate that students having more inclusive, less structured and supported programs within the secondary school settings are more successful in graduating from college. Although neither performance nor full-scale IQ interacted with these findings, verbal aptitude did so.