First-Generation College Students With Disabilities: The Impact of Relationships With Institutional Agents on Their Journey

Students with disabilities who are attending college are less likely to enroll in a four-year postsecondary program. Once enrolled, students with disabilities are also more likely to drop out of college and not complete their degree than their peers without disabilities. This qualitative study used in-depth interviews with ten first-generation college students with disabilities to discover if they had relationships with institutional agents that helped put them on the path to a four-year college. The results of this study suggest that first-generation students with disabilities can benefit from relationships with institutional agents.