ADA to Ph.D.? The Americans with Disabilities Act and Post-Secondary Educational Attainment

16 Pages Posted: 9 Jan 2023

See all articles by Nicholas Reinarts

Nicholas Reinarts

Jones College of Business / Political Economy Research Institute at MTSU

Vitor Melo

Clemson University; Mercatus Center; Initiative on Enabling Choice and Competition at the University of Chicago

Date Written: January 6, 2023

Abstract

The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) of 1990 requires employers and universities to provide accommodations to employees and students with disabilities. Previous research on the ADA has focused primarily on labor market outcomes. Yet, little is known about how the ADA affected the educational attainment of people with disabilities. This paper fills this gap by examining the effect of the ADA on the decision-making of disabled Americans regarding post-secondary education. Using data from the CPS, we implement difference-in-differences and synthetic difference-in-differences empirical approaches to estimate this causal effect. We find that the ADA substantially negatively impacted post-secondary educational attainment, which is the opposite of its intended objective.

Keywords: ADA, Disability, Education, Regulation

JEL Classification: C21, D02, I23, J88, L51

Suggested Citation

Reinarts, Nicholas and Melo, Vitor, ADA to Ph.D.? The Americans with Disabilities Act and Post-Secondary Educational Attainment (January 6, 2023). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=4319429 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.4319429

Nicholas Reinarts (Contact Author)

Jones College of Business / Political Economy Research Institute at MTSU ( email )

1827 MTSU BLVD
Murfreesboro, TN 37129
United States

Vitor Melo

Clemson University ( email )

Clemson, SC 29631
United States

Mercatus Center ( email )

3434 Washington Blvd., 4th Floor
Arlington, VA 22201
United States

Initiative on Enabling Choice and Competition at the University of Chicago ( email )

1101 East 58th Street
Chicago, IL 60637
United States

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