Students with disabilities bring various backgrounds and experiences to colleges and universities in the United States. The right to access higher education with such individualized needs are central tenets to federal civil rights laws. The confluence of increased participation in higher education by students with disabilities and their need for…

Evidence has suggested students with disabilities in higher education have faced stigma and skepticism, resulting in lower retention and completion rates as compared to students without disabilities. For students with disabilities, degree completion is significant because adults with disabilities are three times more likely than their nondisabled…

University-based certificate programs for students with intellectual disabilities have grown in number since the passing of the Higher Education Opportunities Act (HEOA) in 2008. The Comprehensive Transition Program (CTP) designation and Transition and Postsecondary Programs for Students with Intellectual Disabilities (TPSID) grant were created…

Drawing on a Foucauldian theorisation and an in-depth study with eight disabled student activists in England, this paper explores how persistent marginalisation and ableism in higher education has triggered a wave of activism among disabled students, who, just before the advent of the pandemic, had organised a structured movement, Disabled…

This systematic literature review provides a synthesis of what issues within disability have been researched, how universities respond to the issues to be inclusive to disabled students and the role of higher education environment and policy, in doing so. The review is motivated by the emphasis on inclusive and equitable quality education and…

This study examines experiences with aesthetic bias as perceived by individuals with physical disabilities (i.e., vision, hearing, orthopedic/mobility). We used the concept of aesthetic bias to guide our quantitative and qualitative data analysis. A quantitative Needs Assessment Survey (NAS) gathered demographic information, degree of appearance…

College students with disabilities face institutional challenges related to pursuing their education. In addition to the developmental changes that occur during young adulthood, these students also must overcome obstacles involving inaccessible environments, programs, services, and instructional approaches. Colleges and other service providers are…

While the higher education (HE) literature highlights how the sector is designed for a typified imagined student, the issues are particularly acute for care-experienced students. The dominant HE discourse assumes that all students will be able or want to participate in 'stereotypical' aspects of student life and have stable networks to offer…

The importance of providing institutional assistance to adult learners with visual impairment throughout the COVID-19 pandemic cannot be overemphasised. This paper examined the experiences of adult learners with visual impairment, whose studies were significantly affected by the implementation of lockdown and social distancing that led to their…

College students with disabilities are an overlooked minority population. However, they comprise an ever-increasing student population in postsecondary institutions. Yet students with disabilities do not persist or graduate at rates similar to their able-bodied peers. People with disabilities have historically been viewed as a low-status group and…

Extracurricular activities (ECAs) and their impact on student employability has become a focus of the higher education sector, with a recent emphasis on experiences such as global exchange and skill acquisition that prepares graduates for the workforce. Despite the initiatives and effort put into supporting the general student population, students…

Increasing participation and success in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) fields continues to be a national imperative, with particular attention paid to eliminating barriers for women and underrepresented students of color. Some attention has been paid to the underrepresentation of students with disabilities in STEM fields, while…