High School Graduation of Students with Disabilities: How Long Does it Take?

This study explores the high school graduation experiences of students with disabilities, using data from the National Longitudinal Transition Study-2 (NLTS2, 2010), and asking: (a) After entering high school, on average, how long does it take for students with disabilities to graduate? (b) Is time to graduation different for students with different disabilities? Eight years after entering high school, 72.4% of students with disabilities had graduated—with the maximum conditional probability of graduation occurring 5 years after entering high school. In addition, students' type of disability affected both their conditional probability of graduation in each year and the temporal profile of those probabilities. Limitations of the study, suggestions for future research, and policy implications are discussed.