title: Evaluation of a program of university placement for spinal cord injured rehabilitation clients in Louisiana.
abstract: The Louisiana State Department of Social Services, Rehabilitation Services (LRS) offers a program of financial support for spinal cord injured persons to attend college. We evaluated this program's effectiveness and attempted to identify factors that may predict student success. We examined the LRS case records of all students with documented SCI who had enrolled in the LRS college program before 1988. We compared the proportion of LRS clients who graduated with the proportion of general population students attending the same schools. We measured the association between graduation and factors that may help predict success. Of the 51 LRS clients studied, 25 (49%) graduated from baccalaureate institutions within 6 years. Of Louisiana students-at-large who attended the colleges that housed LRS students, 36% of those graduated within 6 years. The best predictor of success was the American College Test score. All students with a score of 17 or more graduated. A larger proportion of LRS-sponsored students graduated than did students from the general population.
authors.affiliation: Disability Program, Louisiana State Office of Public Health, USA.
authors.forename: D W
authors.initials: DW
authors.lastname: Lawrence
authors.forename: G W
authors.initials: GW
authors.lastname: Stewart
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D004521:Educational Measurement; D006801:Humans; D008145:Louisiana; D015397:Program Evaluation; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D013119:Spinal Cord Injuries / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D014495:Universities