2017 Annual Disability Statistics Compendium

Section 9: Education
This section presents statistics on Special Education programs in the United States, specifically on children served under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, Part B. These data concern the number of children with disabilities served (by age and by type of disability), mainstream education of children with disabilities, dropout and graduation rates, and state grant awards. The principal source of this data is the Office of Special Education Programs’ Data Accountability Center, which produces the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act 618 Data Tables. Categories of disability and program outcomes under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act can be found on the Center for Parent Information and Resources website.
This section also presents statistics on the educational attainment of people with and without disabilities in the United States. The source of these estimates is the American Community Survey. For these tables, statistics for people with disabilities (disability status) are based on having responded ‘yes’ to a series of questions within the American Community Survey. See the glossary for more details.
Tables
Table 9.1: In the fall of 2016, there were 66,635,250 people ages 6 to 21. Of these people ages 6 to 21, 5,931,807 or 8.9 percent received special education services under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, Part B. Hawaii had the smallest percentage (6.6 percent), while Maine had the largest percentage (12.3 percent).
Table 9.2: Of the youth ages 3 to 21 who received special education services under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, Part B, in the fall of 2016, 744,174 were 3 to 5 years old; 2,811,333 were 6 to 11 years old; 2,782,711 were 12 to 17 years old; and 337,763 were 18 to 21 years old.
Tables 9.3a-9.3d: The 5,931,807 students ages 6 to 21 who received special education services under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, Part B, in the fall of 2016 were in the following diagnostic categories: 2,281,197 in specific learning disability, 994,208 in speech or language impairment, 409,581 in intellectual disabilities, 333,434 in emotional disturbance, 124,544 in multiple disabilities, 64,716 in hearing impairments, 35,929 in orthopedic impairments, 910,699 in other health impairments, 24,125 in visual impairments, 573,586 in autism, 1,261 in deaf/blindness, 25,136 in traumatic brain injury, and 153,391 in developmental delay.
Table 9.4: Of the 5,931,807 youth ages 6 to 21 who received special education services under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, Part B, in the fall of 2016, 4,828,878 (or 81.4 percent) spent 40 percent or more of their time in the regular classroom. New York had the smallest percentage (69.8 percent), while Wyoming had the largest percentage (91.6 percent).
Table 9.5: In 2016, individuals ages 25 and over with disabilities in Louisiana were most likely to have less than a high school education (28.2 percent), while individuals ages 25 and over with disabilities in Utah were least likely to have less than a high school education (12.1 percent).
Table 9.6: In 2016, individuals ages 25 and over with disabilities in Pennsylvania were most likely to have a high school education (43.7 percent), while individuals ages 25 and over with disabilities in California were least likely to have a high school education (25.1 percent).
Table 9.7: In 2016, individuals ages 25 and over with disabilities in Delaware were most likely to have a 4-year college degree (14.7 percent), while individuals ages 25 and over with disabilities in Arkansas were least likely to have a 4-year college degree (6.1 percent).
Table 9.8: In 2016, individuals ages 25 and over with disabilities in the District of Columbia were most likely to have more than a 4-year college degree (13.0 percent), while individuals ages 25 and over with disabilities in South Dakota were least likely to have more than a 4-year college degree (3.4 percent).