Disparate impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on deaf college students.

Abstract

This study explores the experiences of deaf college students during the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic to examine institutional capacity to retain their most vulnerable students during this time of crisis. A secondary analysis of the National Center for Education Statistics dataset, the National Postsecondary Student Aid Study, was conducted to explore deaf students' experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic with communication from their college and disruptions related to finances, housing, or academics and to determine whether deaf students were more likely to leave their institutions than hearing students. The findings demonstrated that despite deaf students receiving similar amounts of helpful communication as their hearing peers and experiencing fewer economic disruptions, they were still nearly twice as likely to take a leave of absence or withdraw from their institution during the pandemic. These findings highlight the vulnerability of deaf college students to leaving college despite receiving institutional support.