Journal of Vocational Rehabilitation 43 (2015) 93–102 DOI:10.3233/JVR-150759 IOS Press 93 Effect of college or university training on earnings of people with disabilities: A case control study John O’Neill a,* , Hyun-Ju Kang b , Jennifer S´ anchez c , Veronica Muller d , Holly Aldrich b , Joseph Pfaller b and Fong Chan b a Kessler Foundation, West Orange, NJ, USA b University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, USA c The University of Texas at El Paso, El Paso, TX, USA d Hunter College, City University of New York, New York, NY, USA Revised/Accepted March 2015 Abstract. OBJECTIVE: To examine the effect of college or university training on earnings of individuals with disabilities receiving services through the public vocational rehabilitation system. METHODS: A non-experimental case-control study design. Data for 178,290 individuals closed as successfully rehabilitation in fiscal year 2011 were extracted from the Rehabilitation Services Administration Case Service Report (RSA-911) database. RESULTS: Propensity scores were estimated based on demographic variables using the classification and regression tree (CART) method, which yielded six homogeneous subgroups, ranging from high propensity to received college or university training as a vocational rehabilitation intervention to low propensity to receive such service. Individuals who received college/university training had higher weekly earnings than those who did not, and had the greatest benefit for young adults; White, Asian, or Native American women with physical impairments; and people with mental impairments. CONCLUSION: College or university training should be considered as a viable and beneficial option to improve employment outcomes and job quality for individuals with disabilities. Keywords: Vocational rehabilitation, postsecondary education, people with disabilities, case control study 1. Introduction Individuals with postsecondary education training have higher incomes and lower unemployment rates than those with only a high school diploma or less than a diploma (U.S. Department of Labor [USDOL], 2014a). According to a study by the U.S. Census Bureau, the impact of education levels on work-life earnings sur- * Address for correspondence: John O’Neill, Ph.D., CRC, Direc- tor, Employment and Disability Research, Kessler Foundation, 300 Executive Drive, West Orange, NJ 07052, USA. Tel.: +1 973 324 8387; E-mail: JONeill@kesslerfoundation.org. passes that of all other demographic factors (Julian & Kominski, 2011). In 2013, the unemployment rate was 4% for people over 25 with a bachelor’s degree, com- pared to 11% for those without a high school diploma (USDOL, 2014b). Moreover, the median yearly earn- ings (in constant 2012 dollars) was $46,900 for young adults with a bachelor’s degree, $30,000 for those with a high school credential, and $22,900 for those lack- ing a high school credential (Kena et al., 2014). These figures suggest that individuals with higher levels of education have better prospects to obtain employment and have higher earning potential. 1052-2263/15/$35.00 © 2015 – IOS Press and the authors. All rights reserved