Toward the Development of Equitable U.S. Financial Aid Policy: A Mixed Methods Investigation of Postsecondary Financial Need among Students with Disabilities
Open Access DepositedA four-year college degree is associated with numerous positive outcomes for students, from increased average earning potential to opportunities for personal development. Yet, for individuals with disabilities, large medical bills and other disability-related expenses may make affording college especially difficult. This study used a convergent sequential, transformative mixed methods design to explore variables that influences four-year college students with disabilities’ perceived postsecondary financial need. A survey, based on data from an initial pilot study, which was split into two halves. The first half of survey data was used to conduct an exploratory factory analysis (EFA) that approximated the latent construct of perceived need. Concurrently collected qualitative interview data were used to explore additional variables that participants identified as being relevant to their perceptions of postsecondary financial need. Based on integration of the initial quantitative findings with input from the qualitative data strand, two confirmatory factor analyses (CFA) were performed using the second half of the quantitative data strand. The first analysis incorporated findings from the initial EFA, while the second also incorporated findings from the integrated factor analyses. The integrated CFA model was intended to a) improve model fit and b) ensure that participants have indirect input in how the model is adjusted in order to improve such fit. The results of the integrated CFA illustrated current gaps between disability-related financial need and current financial aid policies, as identified by four-year disabled college students. By breaking down the extent to which unique, disability-related variables inform students’ perceptions of financial need, this project was able to offer relevant implications for the development of more equitable financial aid policies.
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