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Digest of Education Statistics
2007 Tables and Figures All Years of Tables and Figures Most Recent Full Issue of the Digest


Table 377. Current postsecondary education and employment status, wages earned, and living arrangements of special education students out of secondary school up to 4 years, by type of disability: 2005
Type of disability Percentage attending postsecondary institutions Percentage competitively employed2 Mean
hourly wage
at current job3
Percentage living independently4
Any post-secondary1 4-year 2-year Vocational/ technical
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
All disabilities5 23.4   (2.62) 7.8   (1.66) 12.9   (2.08) 6.3   (1.51) 69.5 (3.51) $8.30 (0.32) 28.1   (2.94)
Specific learning disability 25.0   (3.99) 8.8   (2.61) 13.1   (3.12) 6.3 ! (2.24) 77.2 (4.85) 8.30 (0.38) 31.8   (4.53)
Mental retardation 12.0   (3.44) 1.4 ! (1.24) 7.8 ! (2.85) 5.3 ! (2.38) 36.3 (6.04) 7.40 (0.65) 13.7   (3.82)
Emotional disturbance 11.8   (2.95) 2.1 ! (1.31) 8.2 ! (2.54) 4.3 ! (1.86) 64.5 (5.56) 8.90 (0.75) 25.2   (4.21)
Speech or language impairment 36.0   (4.80) 19.6   (3.98) 19.6   (3.98) 6.7 ! (2.51) 71.0 (5.37) 8.00 (0.53) 31.4   (4.85)
Multiple disabilities 25.7   (6.64) 6.7 ! (3.82) 12.5 ! (5.07) 6.7 ! (3.81) 39.8 (8.76) 8.80 (1.17) 6.6 ! (3.91)
Other health impairment 33.3   (4.54) 8.8 ! (2.74) 23.1   (4.09) 11.9   (3.14) 76.2 (4.80) 8.10 (0.38) 20.4   (4.08)
Hearing impairment6  50.7   (5.88) 21.2   (4.89) 26.0   (5.22) 12.9 ! (3.99) 56.3 (6.95) 7.70 (0.55) 29.4   (5.66)
Orthopedic impairment 35.8   (5.37) 12.6   (3.72) 22.9   (4.75) 7.5 ! (2.96) 32.0 (6.13) 7.80 (0.97) 25.4   (5.15)
Visual impairment 63.9   (7.60) 34.4   (7.52) 31.7   (7.47) 5.2 ! (3.52) 59.5 (8.79) 9.60 (1.95) 39.9   (8.21)
Autism 35.8   (8.23) 16.1 ! (6.36) 19.0 ! (6.76) 5.1 ! (3.80) 56.0 (9.64) 6.90 (0.69) 17.1 ! (6.51)
Deaf-blindness 24.6 ! (8.26) 12.2 ! (6.42) 8.5 ! (5.47) 8.2 ! (5.26) 37.0 (9.96) (†) 24.4 ! (8.64)
Traumatic brain injury 17.0 ! (7.57) 4.5 ! (4.20) 11.1 ! (6.33) 5.3 ! (4.54) 50.2 (11.68) 7.80 (0.78) 28.0 ! (9.64)
† Not applicable.
! Interpret data with caution.
‡ Reporting standards not met.
1 Includes 2- and 4-year colleges, and vocational/technical schools.
2 Competitively employed refers to those receiving more than minimum wage and working in an environment where the majority of workers are not disabled.
3 Includes wages from noncompetitive jobs.
4 Living independently includes living alone, with a spouse or roommate, in a college dormitory, in Job Corps housing, or in military housing as a service member.
5 Includes disability categories with less than 30 youths in the sample, which are not shown separately.
6 Includes deaf and hard of hearing.
NOTE: Data based on students who had been out of secondary school up to 4 years and had attended special or regular schools in the 1999-2000 or 2000-01 school year. Standard errors appear in parentheses.

2007 Tables and Figures All Years of Tables and Figures Most Recent Full Issue of the Digest