A review of the college persistence and special education literature revealed that even though students with learning disabilities experience challenges in college, the factors that account for some of them persisting in and graduating from postsecondary education and some students not persisting in postsecondary education is unclear. This qualitative study identified some of the factors that may either contribute to or detract from the success experienced by college students with learning disabilities in their first year of college. The participants in this study were 12 college freshmen with learning disabilities attending a midsized university in the Midwest. Each participant was interviewed following an open-ended question format intended to elicit detailed responses about their attitudes, academic and social college behaviors, and beliefs about their college success. To distinguish those students who were persisting from those students who were not persisting in college, the participants were asked to share their semester grade point averages earned in their first-year of college. Grade point averages 2.0 or more were markers for college success, and grade point averages below 2.0 were markers for college failure. Using grounded theory methodology, the open and axial coding processes yielded the factors associated with college retention and attrition. The primary factors that emerged from the data were the students' attitudes about higher education, and their personal attributes including motivation, maturity, and persistence. Additionally, students' adjustment to academic and campus life, and their use of supports, such as college staff and tutors, and their use of some skills, including studying, managing time, advocating for their needs, and their decision and problem solving were factors leading them to either college persistence or attrition. Based on this data, a theory of college persistence for first-year students evolved which includes the reciprocal influences among the self-determination characteristic of autonomy, empowerment, regulation, and realization; students' academic behaviors, attributes and adjustments; use of supports; and to a lesser degree, use of skills. Practical implications based on the results of this study are proposed for secondary educators, postsecondary support staff and educators, and students and family.
External regulation is the least autonomous and used to obtain rewards or to
avoid punishment. For introjected regulation, one behaves to avoid guilt or
shame. Identified regulated behaviors stem from the conscious valuing of an
action as ...