Graduation Rates of Students with Disabilities at a Participating Southern University

The purpose of this non-experimental, correlational quantitative study was to compare the graduation rates of first-time, full-time students with disabilities to those of first-time, full-time students in the general population at the participating university. The sample used for analysis was full-time, first-time students entering between 2015 and 2020. Using archival data from the Disability Services database and the University's Banner system, four- and six-year graduation rates were compared. The original data set consisted of 22,070 students in the starting focus cohorts. After removing entering transfer students and students who enrolled in less than 15 credits for their entering semester, 8,337 first-time, full-time students were analyzed. The variables included in the study were gender and general population students or students registered with disability services. Six research questions were answered in this study, using chi-square two-way analysis in crosstabs, comparing the general population students and students registered with disability services. The data analysis compared overall four- and six-year graduation rates, male four- and six-year graduation rates, and female four- and six-year graduation rates. Analyses found the participating university had higher graduation percentages of students with disabilities when compared to the general population students for the entering cohorts of focus, with a significant difference in graduation rates across various categories: overall four- and six-year graduation rates, male four- and six-year graduation rates, and female four- and six-year graduation rates.