Be Ready, Be Well: A Conceptual Framework for Supporting Well-being Among College Students with Disabilities

Although the rate of students with disabilities attending college continues to rise, these students often feel unprepared for college and graduate at discouraging rates. Further, negative outcomes are often exacerbated for college students with disabilities who experience co-occurring mental health needs. Although barriers associated with college success among students with disabilities and mental health needs are well-documented in the literature, there is a notable dearth of information on how to address them. The purpose of this paper is to (a) describe current policies and practices that influence well-being among college students with disabilities; (b) review existing theories, models, and frameworks related to well-being among college students with disabilities; (c) introduce Be Ready, Be Well, a conceptual framework that integrates key components of existing polices, practices, theories, models, and frameworks to support well-being among college students with disabilities; (d) provide implications for higher education professionals, and (e) explore future directions for this framework.