Giving Compass' Take:

• As more colleges are expanding or adding programs that help students with intellectual disabilities, federal funding is running out for some of these initiatives next year.

• What are the ways that colleges can subsidize these programs to sustain funding? 

• Learn more about other programs that help students with disabilities. 

Some students in the Aggies Elevated program, named for the university’s agricultural college origins, have Down Syndrome, some have autism and several have multiple diagnoses. All have IQs of 70 or less.

Without a program like Aggies Elevated, many of these students would be living at home, working menial, minimum-wage jobs. The employment rate for adults with cognitive disabilities is just 19 percent, according to recent estimates. Those who do work make half of what adults without disabilities earn.

The goal of Aggies Elevated — and the 274 other postsecondary transition programs for students with cognitive disabilities scattered across the country — is to prepare students for meaningful work and independent living. By the end of the two-year program, these students should have not only a certificate, but also the connections and confidence they will need to become self-sufficient adults.

Results so far are encouraging. Close to two-thirds of students who completed one of 25 federally funded programs between 2015 and 2017 found paid work within a year, according to a recent survey. Ninety percent of Utah State’s 19 graduates are currently employed, and three-quarters are living on their own, according to program researchers.

But there still aren’t enough programs to meet demand, and federal funding for some of them expires next year. That’s left colleges like Utah State scrambling to find other sources of money.

Even the most established programs face an uncertain future, with funding subject to the whims of changing college administrations, said Weir, of Think College. “The programs are still pioneers, and they constantly have to show their worth and prove themselves,” she said.

Read the full article about students with intellectual disabilities in college by Kelly Field at The Hechinger Report.