2025 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Background – The transition into higher education from high school presents numerous challenges for students with disabilities. In the United States, regulatory support changes dramatically in this transitional period; students who could previously rely on accommodations guaranteed under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) now must rely solely on the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act, which guarantee fewer educational accommodations.
Purpose/Hypothesis - Unique challenges with accessibility in STEM disciplines contribute to a disparity in persistence between students with disabilities and their peers. Libraries are uniquely positioned to provide resources and foster inclusive learning that supports academic success for students with disabilities through their cross-disciplinary involvement in information, technology, and student support. This paper critically examines the literature around the transition to college for students with disabilities to extract meaningful ways libraries can contribute to academic success for students with disabilities entering higher education.
Method/Design/Scope – We used advanced search techniques to identify candidate articles related to the transition to higher education for students with disabilities in Web of Science (n=1152). We then used Biblioshiny (an R package) to conduct bibliometric analysis and visualize trends in the literature. Finally, using the most influential of the results, we identified themes that libraries can use to contribute to the academic success of students with disabilities.
Results –We evaluated the composition of the dataset, determining the most highly cited authors and publications related to this topic. We also used theme analyses to identify terms that have increased or decreased in usage over time. The results can also provide insights into future research directions related to the transition to higher education for students with disabilities.
Conclusions – Our analysis yielded several insights for librarians in higher education, including focus on universal design in both instruction planning and space allocation, opportunities for outreach and engagement with campus entities supporting students with disabilities, and critical evaluation of the terminology used in resource description and access.