There are few studies on hearing impaired students' experiences at the higher education level. The purpose of this study was to uncover differential factors which may facilitate such students' access to higher education and those that hinder their entrance and permanence in university studies. Two questionnaires were applied: Group A - university students and B1 - high school students; B2 - other education levels. For Group A the results showed that the facilitating factors were: previous success in school, family support and helpful teachers. The difficulties they reported were factors which corresponded to the absence of the facilitating factors mentioned: lack of success during school years and no support from teachers. Favorable factors for those enrolled in college or university were the support of classmates and family, as well as close attention from teachers' attention. Hindering factors included lack of attention by teachers and absence of guidance by health professionals. The results obtained with Group B showed that subjects wanted to enroll in higher education, but only a few attempted undergoing entrances examinations (vestibular), due to financial issues, fear of doing poorly on the exams and fear of not being able to keep up with the course load. In Group B2 the intention of going to college is rated lower when compared to Group B1. These subjects believed that the aspects related to schooling (scholastic achievement, teacher support, access to technology) are pertinent, and that family support can be helpful, however they recognize their own educational challenges and they understand that lack of teacher support can be a hindrance. As a conclusion, specialized institutions do not seem to be prepared to enroll university students with hearing impairments. Subjects from theB1 and B2 Groups showed that the main impediments they faced were of financial order and because of their previous underachievement in school.
auditive deficient; higher education; especial education
