Rural high school transition programs that support students with disabilities in enrolling and persisting in college

Once students with disabilities graduate from high school, they enroll and persist in college at lower rates compared to peers without disabilities. Jobs today demand additional learning after high school graduation, yet with lower rates of college attendance, individuals with disabilities are more likely to have a lower income earning potential or be unemployed. There are rural high schools in Iowa that achieve positive postsecondary education outcomes for students with disabilities even beyond the state average enrollment rate. This qualitative study set out to investigate what educators in these high schools are doing to support college enrollment and persistence of students with disabilities. Learning from the perspectives of school leaders, school counselors, and special education teachers helps identify common practices that support rural students with disabilities. Themes within the findings indicate that impactful components of school transition programs include initiating transition services prior to high school, providing explicit instruction and practice in self-determination skills, utilizing interagency collaboration with Vocational Rehabilitation Services, offering opportunities for students to participate in postsecondary programs before graduation, and holding expectations for students to pursue postsecondary education. With these findings, educational leaders of rural schools across the country can strengthen their high school transition programs to support postsecondary education outcomes for students with disabilities.