Abstract
This study examined the postsecondary education status of 1985 and 1990 high school graduates from three large school districts in the northwestern United States. Each cohort included all of the graduates with learning disabilities (LD) and a stratified random sample without disabilities from the same graduating class. Interviews conducted with the graduate or with another informant during the 5 consecutive years 1991 through 1995 generated data regarding their postsecondary education status. Because of the 5-year difference in graduation years (1985 vs. 1990), these data allowed us to examine the postsecondary school attendance and completion rates of these youth during the first 10 years following high school. Findings indicated that graduates with LD were significantly less likely to have attended any form of postsecondary school and were less likely to have graduated from postsecondary programs throughout the first 10 years following high school. An analysis of the employment rates and earnings of these graduates both 5 and 10 years after high school suggested little relationship between postsecondary educational status and either employment or earnings. These findings support those of other researchers and provide a long-term picture of the postsecondary educational status of youth with LD.