The effect of disability disclosure on the graduation rates of college students with disabilities

Hudson, Robyn Lynn

The effect of disability disclosure on the graduation rates of college students with disabilities

dc.contributor.author	Hudson, Robyn Lynn	en
dc.contributor.committeechair	Asselin, Susan B.	en
dc.contributor.committeemember	Weiss, Margaret P.	en
dc.contributor.committeemember	Culver, Steven M.	en
dc.contributor.committeemember	Williams, Thomas O.	en
dc.contributor.department	Teaching and Learning	en
dc.date.accessioned	2013-11-14T09:00:12Z	en
dc.date.available	2013-11-14T09:00:12Z	en
dc.date.issued	2013-11-13	en
dc.description.abstract	Previous studies on postsecondary graduation rates indicated that college students with disabilities have lower graduation rates than students without disabilities. As many college students do not disclose their disability to their institution upon enrollment, the effect of the timing of disability disclosure on graduation rates warranted examination. This study was a quantitative study of 14,401 undergraduate students at one large research university in the years 2002, 2003, and 2004, of which 423 had disabilities. Quantitative methods were used to conduct an exploratory analysis of the effect of disability, disability disclosure, disability-type and gender on graduation rates. A chi-square analysis revealed that students with disabilities had significantly lower six-year graduation rates than their peers. In addition, students with disabilities who disclosed their disability after their first year of enrollment had significantly lower six-year graduation rates than students with disabilities who disclosed within the first year of enrollment. Results of a multiple regression analysis showed that disability disclosure, disability-type, and gender accounted for 38% of the variance in the length of time to graduation. Finally, for every year that a student delayed disclosing a disability, the length of time to graduation increased by almost half a year. The implications of the study were discussed and recommendations for future research were made.	en
dc.description.degree	Ph. D.	en
dc.format.medium	ETD	en
dc.identifier.other	vt_gsexam:1780	en
dc.identifier.uri	http://hdl.handle.net/10919/24072	en
dc.publisher	Virginia Tech	en
dc.rights	In Copyright	en
dc.rights.uri	http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/	en
dc.subject	college student	en
dc.subject	postsecondary	en
dc.subject	disability	en
dc.subject	graduation	en
dc.subject	disability disclosure	en
dc.title	The effect of disability disclosure on the graduation rates of college students with disabilities	en
dc.type	Dissertation	en
thesis.degree.discipline	Curriculum and Instruction	en
thesis.degree.grantor	Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University	en
thesis.degree.level	doctoral	en
thesis.degree.name	Ph. D.	en