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Students with disabilities

Question:
How many students in postsecondary education have a disability?

Response:

In 2019–20, some 21 percent of undergraduates and 11 percent of postbaccalaureate students reported having a disability, defined as those who reported having deafness or serious difficulty hearing; blindness or serious difficulty seeing; serious difficulty concentrating, remembering, or making decisions because of a physical, mental, or emotional condition; or serious difficulty walking or climbing stairs.

Among undergraduates, the percentage who reported having a disability was

By race/ethnicity, the percentage of undergraduates who had a disability was

See the table below for additional data for undergraduates and postbaccalaureate students by age, dependency status, and veteran status.

Percentage distribution of students enrolled in postsecondary institutions, by level, disability status, and selected student characteristics: Academic year 2019–20
Selected student characteristic Undergraduate Postbaccalaureate
Students with disabilities1 Students without disabilities Students with disabilities1 Students without disabilities
Total 20.5 79.5 10.7 89.3
Gender        
Male 17.6 82.4 8.5 91.5
Female 21.9 78.1 11.7 88.3
Nonbinary2 53.7 46.3 39.8 60.2
Race/ethnicity        
American Indian/Alaska Native 23.7 76.3 90.8
Asian 13.9 86.1 6.8 93.2
Black 18.0 82.0 10.1 89.9
Hispanic 21.3 78.7 14.0 86.0
Pacific Islander 22.1 77.9 89.1
White 21.1 78.9 11.0 89.0
Two or more races 25.4 74.6 14.9 85.1
Age        
15 to 23 20.3 79.7 8.9 91.1
24 to 29 21.3 78.7 10.9 89.1
30 or older 20.7 79.3 11.0 89.0
Dependency status        
Dependent 20.0 80.0
Independent, no dependents, not married 23.3 76.7 11.3 88.7
Independent, no dependents, married 17.4 82.6 9.5 90.5
Independent with dependents, not married 23.7 76.3 13.5 86.5
Independent with dependents, married 16.1 83.9 8.9 91.1
Veteran status        
Veteran 28.1 71.9 20.0 80.0
Not veteran 20.2 79.8 10.1 89.9

‡ Reporting standards not met. The coefficient of variation (CV) for this estimate is 50 percent or greater.
1 Students with disabilities are those who reported having deafness or serious difficulty hearing; blindness or serious difficulty seeing; serious difficulty concentrating, remembering, or making decisions because of a physical, mental, or emotional condition; or serious difficulty walking or climbing stairs.
2 Nonbinary includes genderqueer, gender nonconforming, or a different identity.

NOTE: Data are based on a sample survey of students who enrolled at any time during the school year. Data exclude students attending institutions in Puerto Rico. Detail may not sum to totals because of rounding. Race categories exclude persons of Hispanic ethnicity.

SOURCE: National Center for Education Statistics. (2023, TBA). Table 311.10. Number and percentage distribution of students enrolled in postsecondary institutions, by level, disability status, and selected student characteristics: Academic year 2019–20 [Data table]. In Digest of education statistics. U.S. Department of Education, Institute of Education Sciences. Retrieved December 5, 2023, from https://nces.ed.gov/programs/digest/d22/tables/dt22_311.10.asp.


1 Nonbinary includes genderqueer, gender nonconforming, or a different identity.

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