THE NATIONAL LEARNING-DISABILITIES POSTSECONDARY DATA-BANK - AN OVERVIEW

A survey was developed to assess support services, procedures, policie s, the proportion of students with learning disabilities (LD), and the factors that affect differences in proportion in a nationally represe ntative sample of postsecondary institutions (PSIs). The factors inves tigated included general characteristics about the PSI, such as size o f the student body and type of PSI. The specific characteristics inves tigated in regard to LD were admissions procedures, year of initiation of LD support services, type and location of support services, eligib ility criteria for services and accommodations, the number of students with LD, and demographic and diagnostic information available. In thi s article, descriptive data regarding the services, practices, policie s, procedures, and proportions are provided. The findings indicated th at the proportion of students with LD ranged from .5% to almost 10%. T he factors that had a significant impact on the proportion of students with LD were size of the student body, the type of institution, the i nstitution's Carnegie classification, and whether the institution offe red graduate degree programs. These findings and their implications ar e discussed.