Transition Planning for Students with Severe Disabilities - Research Proposal Example

In 1978 less than 3% of freshmen reported a disability. By 1998, the figure had risen to 9.4% (Schutz, 2002). According to U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services, as of 1990, over 200,000 special education students exit from school each year (nichcy.org)  The number of students with disabilities, going on to higher education, has tripled since 1990 (Hehir, 1999). As a group, the students with learning disabilities have the highest rate of enrollment in colleges.

Of the 428,280 students enrolled in the US colleges in 1997-98 half were those with learning disabilities (Skinner & Lindstrom [2003] as cited in Kosine [2005]). According to Cob (2003), the group is the also the fastest growing disability category among college freshmen (as cited in Kosine, 2005). Students with disabilities show a greater tendency for higher drop out rates, lower participation in post-secondary education, and the higher rate of unemployment than their peers without disabilities.

There is a sizeable increase in the number of students with disabilities going in for college education as transition planning requirements at the school level have encouraged students with disabilities to consider all options after high school, including college (Kosine, 2005). Almost ten percent of all the students in higher education are those with a disability (National Council on Disability cited in Kosine [2005]). The increase in enrolment of students with disabilities in the post-secondary system has increased the pressure on college and university disability service providers (Schutz, 2002).

Needless to say, the problem of rehabilitation of such a large number of students with disabilities is a formidable task.