How many students with disabilities receive services in the U.S.?
- Enacted in 1975, the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) mandates the provision of a free and appropriate public school education for eligible students ages 3-21.
- Eligible students are those identified by a team of professionals as having a disability that adversely affects academic performance and as being in need of special education and/or related services.
- Data collection activities to monitor compliance with IDEA began in 1976. The number of students ages 3-21 served under IDEA in the United States increased from 6.4 million in school year 2012-13 to 7.5 million in school year 2022-23.
- Taken as a percentage of total public school enrollment, this equates to an increase from 13 to 15 percent of students.
- The number of students served as a percentage of total enrollment is based on total public school enrollment in pre-kindergarten through grade 12.
- For simplicity, this refers to the percentage of public school students served under IDEA. However, not all students served under IDEA receive education services in public school environments.
Impact of Covid:
- During the coronavirus pandemic, total public school enrollment decreased by 3 percent from fall 2019 to fall 2020, and the fall 2022 enrollment remained lower than it was in fall 2019, before the pandemic.
- Meanwhile, the number of students served under IDEA decreased by 1 percent between 2019–20 and 2020–21 (from 7.3 to 7.2 million students).
- In 2022–23, the number of students served under IDEA reached an all-time high of 7.5 million, which was 3 percent higher than it was in 2019–20.
- As a result, the percentage of public school students served under IDEA continued its upward trend each year during the pandemic and was higher in 2022–23 (15 percent) than in 2019–20 (14 percent).
In school year 2022–23, across the 50 states and the District of Columbia, the percentage of public school students served under IDEA ranged from 12 to 21 percent. The percentage was:
- 21 percent in Pennsylvania, New York, and Maine; and
- 12 percent in Idaho and Hawaii.
In other U.S. jurisdictions in school year 2022–23, the percentage of public school students served under IDEA was:
- 37 percent in Puerto Rico;
- 11 percent in the Northern Mariana Islands; and
- 9 percent in the U.S. Virgin Islands.
Additionally, 15 percent of students in Bureau of Indian Education schools were served under IDEA.
By race/ethnicity, the percentage of public school students served under IDEA in school year 2022–23 was
- highest for American Indian/Alaska Native (19 percent) and Black (17 percent) students; and
- lowest for Pacific Islander (12 percent) and Asian (8 percent) students.