Call for Participation: NEADS Financial Barriers Project
Margaret Shalma
Faced by Students with Disabilities
The University of Toronto?s Centre for the Study of Students in
Postsecondary Education (CSS) and the National Educational Association
of Disabled Students (NEADS) are proud to announce the creation of an
innovative new initiative through a funding partnership with the
Canada Millennium Scholarship Foundation and the Higher Education
Quality Council of Ontario. This project, ?Assessment of Debt Load and
Financial Barriers Affecting Students with Disabilities in
Post-Secondary Education,? is a year-long initiative, concluding in
March, 2009.
Students with disabilities incur the second highest amount of debt
associated with attending postsecondary education in Canada of any
student group. Data available on student debt load currently provides
limited information distinguishing the type of debt (i.e., costs
specifically associated with post-secondary education vs. housing,
transportation or credit card debt). Information specific to students
with disabilities is also very limited. If more fully available and
comprehensive, these data would greatly enhance the ability of
disability service providers, financial aid officers and
accommodations specialists to ensure that the needs of students with
disabilities in post-secondary education are appropriately met.
Information on debt loads and financial barriers for students with
disabilities in postsecondary education would also assist policy
makers in their attempts to support access and success of this student
population.
To that end, NEADS and CSS, in collaboration with the Canadian
Association of Disability Service Providers in Post-Secondary
Education (CADSPPE), will undertake an assessment of the
academic/educational debt load and financial barriers of students with
disabilities, in comparison to the overall student population. Our
interest is in understanding, through various sources, the relative
debt incurred by students who report disabilities in postsecondary
education, the financial barriers to their education that they
experience, and the related impact their relative debt and financial
barriers have on their educational experience and decisions.
We are seeking to recruit undergraduate students with disabilities in
post-secondary education, who are willing to be interviewed (25-40
minutes maximum) by telephone, to discuss financial barriers relating
to their pursuit of post-secondary education. If you are interested in
participating as an interviewee for this project, please contact:
Tony Chambers: tcha...@oise.utoronto.ca; or
Mahadeo Sukhai: mahadeo...@neads.ca
by June 09, 2008. An honorarium of $10 will be provided to every
interview participant.
***At this stage of the project, we are looking for participants from
Ontario, Quebec and the Maritime Provinces, but all students
interested in participating are asked to contact us.
The objectives of the project are:
1. To develop and implement an online survey tool to assess the
academic debt load of students with disabilities in post-secondary
education, in comparison to the non-disabled population.
2. To analyze existing data sets to glean additional information
regarding debt and financial barriers for PSE students with
disabilities.
3. To engage in institution-level interviews and focus groups with
current and former PSE students with disabilities regarding their debt
and financial barrier dynamics related to their education and
disability.
4. To develop a report identifying key financial issues faced by
students with disabilities in postsecondary education, based upon the
survey findings, interviews and focus-groups, analyses of current data
sets, and on literature searches of the appropriate scope.
5. To broadly and freely disseminate the finished report throughout
the post-secondary and disability communities in Canada.
The National Educational Association of Disabled Students (NEADS) is a
consumer-controlled, registered charitable organization with a mandate
to encourage the self-empowerment of post-secondary students and
graduates with disabilities in Canada. NEADS advocates for increased
accessibility at all levels so that students with disabilities may
gain equal access to a college or university education, which is the
right of everyone. The Association also supports the successful
transition of students and graduates with disabilities into employment
within their chosen field.
The Centre for the Study of Students in Postsecondary Education (CSS)
at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education (University of
Toronto) was established in April 2007 with a mission to design,
implement, and disseminate quality, relevant scholarship and programs
that advance a broader understanding of student learning, development
and success at the University of Toronto and in Canadian postsecondary
education. Through the generation of meaningful research and programs,
CSS aims to provide a response to the growing demand for empirically
derived usable data and analysis that informs policy and practice
related to students? experiences and outcomes in postsecondary
education.
Margaret Shalma
V.P. External & Ontario Representative
margare...@neads.ca