Satisfaction of disabled students with disability policies in higher education

In the past 15 years, the number and percentage of students with a functional impairment in higher education has increased and attention has increasingly been paid to the equal treatment of disabled people and those with a chronic illness. This study examines the impact of institutional disability policies on disabled students’ satisfaction at two higher education institutions in the Netherlands. A framework was developed to investigate the relationship between policies and explanatory factors of disabled students’ experience. Interviews were conducted at both institutions with students, study counsellors and policy staff members. The results of this study show that a clear implementation of institutional disability policies has a positive impact on disabled students’ satisfaction in these two universities of applied sciences.