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What is Show Me College?

A central resource for Missourians (and others) to explore higher education options for students with intellectual and developmental disabilities after high school.

Show Me College aims to spread awareness that college is possible for students with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD). The Show Me College website offers resources for students, family members, educators, and counselors to help prepare youth for college.

The Show Me College project aims for all students with IDD, their families, teachers, and counselors to know that college is an important option.

Here is help for navigating the often frustrating transition to post-secondary education. With a goal of improving transition outcomes for youth and young adults with IDD, the Show Me College website offers resources for students, family members, educators, and counselors to better prepare youth for life after high school. 

These resources include research-based best practices and policies, practical strategies, and the stories of students with IDD who have attended, and thrived in, college.

What is a TPSID Grant?

The passage of the Higher Education Opportunity Act (HEOA) in 2008 included several important components that opened the doors to colleges and universities for more students with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD).

 The Higher Education Opportunity Act (HEOA) of 2008 provided:

  • Grants to two – and four-year colleges and universities to develop or expand high quality, inclusive model Transition and Postsecondary Programs for Students with Intellectual Disabilities (TPSIDs).
  • Funding for the national coordinating center, Think College, based out of the Institute for Community Inclusion at the University of Massachusetts Boston.
  • Access to federal financial aid for students with IDD who enrolled in approved comprehensive transition programs (CTPs).

The University of Missouri-St. Louis (UMSL) received a $2.1 million TPSID grant in fall 2020. The grant supports SUCCEED, a two-year program designed to teach students with IDD independent living, academic and job skills as they work toward a Chancellor’s Certificate. With the TPSID Grant, SUCCEED will expand and grow in three ways. The program will:

  • Create additional pathways for students to obtain additional credentials and certificates.
  • Enhance the experiences, supports, and partnerships in existing programming.
  • Build capacity to spur growth, knowledge, and sustainability of IPSE programs in MO

The grant is led by the following faculty and staff members at UMSL: Dr. April Regester (Principal Investigator), Jonathan Lidgus, Dr. Lindsay Athamanah, Dr. Magen Rooney-Kron, Dr. Natalie Bolton, Dr. Wen Zeng, and Andrew Kliethermes. Grant efforts are also supported by Dr. Grace Francis (George Mason University) and Dr. Jennifer Bumble (University of Kansas). To accomplish each of the grant goals, the UMSL team partners with the University of Missouri-Kansas City Institute for Human Development, the St. Louis Arc, and the Special School District of St. Louis County.