2021 Annual Disability Statistics Compendium

Section 13: 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) and mainstream education of children with disabilities. The principal source of these 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 13.1: In the fall of 2019, there were 66,482,548 people ages 6 to 21 years enrolled in school. Of these people ages 6 to 21, 6,453,380 or 9.7 percent received special education services under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, Part B. Hawaii had the smallest percentage (6.9 percent), while Maine had the largest percentage (13.8 percent).
Table 13.2: 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 2019, 707,637 were 3 to 5 years old; 3,138,433 were 6 to 11 years old; 2,984,611 were 12 to 17 years old; and 330,336 were 18 to 21 years old.
Tables 13.3a-13.3d: The 6,453,380 students ages 6 to 21 who received special education services under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, Part B, in the fall of 2019 were in the following diagnostic categories: 2,331,987 in specific learning disability, 1,072,527 in speech or language impairment, 413,612 in intellectual disabilities, 344,141 in emotional disturbance, 125,953 in multiple disabilities, 63,652 in hearing impairments, 31,080 in orthopedic impairments, 1,053,198 in other health impairments, 23,823 in visual impairments, 711,059 in autism, 1,534 in deaf-blindness, 24,925 in traumatic brain injury, and 194,047 in developmental delay.
Table 13.4: Of the 6,453,380 youth ages 6 to 21 who received special education services under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, Part B, in the fall of 2019, 5,305,393 (or 82.2 percent) spent 40 percent or more of their time in the regular classroom. New York had the smallest percentage (69.7 percent), while Wyoming had the largest percentage (92.2 percent).
Table 13.5: In 2020, individuals ages 25 and over with disabilities in California were most likely to have less than a high school education (24.2 percent), while individuals ages 25 and over with disabilities in Utah were least likely to have less than a high school education (9.9 percent).
Table 13.6: In 2020, individuals ages 25 and over with disabilities in Pennsylvania were most likely to have a high school education (44.4 percent), while individuals ages 25 and over with disabilities in California were least likely to have a high school education (24.5 percent).
Table 13.7: In 2020, individuals ages 25 and over with disabilities in New Hampshire were most likely to have a 4-year college degree (18.2 percent), while individuals ages 25 and over with disabilities in West Virginia were least likely to have a 4-year college degree (6.9 percent).
Table 13.8: In 2020, individuals ages 25 and over with disabilities in the District of Columbia were most likely to have more than a 4-year college degree (15.5 percent), while individuals ages 25 and over with disabilities in North Dakota were least likely to have more than a 4-year college degree (3.9 percent).