Exploring Postsecondary Education and Competitive Employment for People with Mental Illness

As more people with psychiatric disabilities seek postsecondary education opportunities to improve their employability and to eventually earn wages averaging higher than those without collegiate experience, institutions of higher education throughout the United States are seeing significant increases in the enrollments of this population. The State-Federal Vocational Rehabilitation (VR) Services program continues to serve as a valuable resource for people with disabilities who attend colleges and universities across the nation. A hierarchical logistic regression analysis was used to determine the effectiveness of VR services for people with psychiatric disabilities who also received college and university training. The Rehabilitation Services Administration 911 database for fiscal year 2006 was used to identify nine services related to the successful closure of this group of consumers. Results are discussed in relation to their importance for rehabilitation counselors.