Research finds that it takes a Ball State student 4.45 years to receive a bachelor's degree as compared to 4.61 years for students with apparent disabilities, including mobility, hearing and visual impairments, and 4.67 years for people with nonapparent disabilities, including cognitive or health-related disabilities. 

"The study points out Ball State's success to develop a campus culture that provides full access for students with various disabilities," said Larry Markle, director of Ball State's Office of Disabled Student Development and one of the coauthors of the study. The findings are based on an analysis of graduation rates for 11,144 students entering Ball State from 1994-96.

Ball State does not offer a specialized curriculum for persons with disabilities but works to provide reasonable accommodations to meet individual needs. Students with disabilities at Ball State have access to tools and resources that enable them to manage day-to-day life.

"Our findings dispel the myth that disabled students cannot do the work or take more years to complete their degree programs," Markle said. "Our students with disabilities are successful because the campus culture has eliminated many of the barriers that sometimes keep them from reaching their goals."

Markle said slight delays for graduation for students with disabilities, as compared with the rest of the student body, may be attributed to this population taking the fewest number of classes possible to maintain full-time status or being forced to reduce class hours due to medical concerns.

Ball State has worked to assist disabled students overcome challenges since the 1960s under the direction of Jack Beyrel, who was then Ball State's vice president of student affairs.

The university formalized its efforts in 1973 by creating the Office for Disabled Student Development, a move that came four years before Congress enacted Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973.

"If you look back at our history, Ball State's faculty and staff have reduced institutional barriers," said Roger Wessel, the study's coauthor and an educational studies professor. "Now the data shows that we've been able to create an atmosphere that is working for students with disabilities."

The study has been presented at several national meetings by Markle, Wessel and other Ball State personnel. The study is one of the first of its kind since little research has been done on graduation rates of disabled students.

"Our research is having an impact because other universities see Ball State as a national model in this area," Markle said. "Every time I present our findings, my peers want to know more about how we've been so successful."