b'FACTSHEET STUDENTS WITH LEARNING DIFFERENCES Approximately 20% of the population have learning differences.This means that approximately 66 million individuals in the United States have learning and/or attention disorders. In 2021, 17,000,000 students were enrolled in public and private high schools. Therefore, approximately, 3,400,000 high school students have learning differences. With proper accommodations, support, and academic preparation, students with learning disorders can not only find success but excel in higher education. Characteristics that work well for students with learning differences and allow them to succeed are self-advocacy, preparation, and motivation, which are traits that are supported and promoted in the Orme Academic Resource Center. Students with learning differences who have higher educational expectations, coupled with a strong college preparatory academic background, have the best chance of succeeding in college.With proper instruction and support, students with learning differences can succeed in school and beyond.The National Longitudinal Transition Study 2 findings indicate that students who received supportsthose available to the full student body and/or disability-specific supportswere more likely to persist in, and complete, 2-year or 4-year college programs than those who did not receive support in high school. Students with learning differences succeed in challenging academic environments because they have learned to compensate for their deficits as well as develop their gifts and talents. The use of these compensation strategies is essential for academic success, especially in the areas of study and performance strategies, self-regulation, time management strategies and other executive function strategies, and self-advocacy. Graduation rates from high school are equal for students with or without mild to moderate learning differences if those students with learning differences are supported in school with accommodations. The best predictor of success after high school, regardless of whether a student has a learning disability, is their level of self-confidence and the amount of support they receive from parents, friends, and teachers.Teachers play an important role in building students self-confidence and self-esteem, which is an important predictor of educational and personal success. Students with mild to moderate learning differences who earned a 3.0 grade point average (GPA) in a college preparatory curriculum were more than twice as likely to complete college than those with a similar GPA who did not complete a college preparatory curriculum.'