For some students with mild or moderate disabilities, postsecondary education might include attendance at a community college, technical school, or 4-year college. From 1978 to 1991, the percentage of full-time college freshmen reporting disabilities more than tripled, with visual impairments and learning disabilities making up half the disabilities reported. For most students with disabilities, special education teachers create a protective environment during elementary and secondary school. However, this experience may inhibit student development of self-advocacy skills. Students must understand the differences between high school and college in order to be prepared for the reality of the college environment. Rather than fostering dependency, teachers in junior high and high school must encourage students to become independent thinkers, problem solvers, and responsible advocates for their own needs. Surveys of college students with disabilities from rural communities provide perspectives on the availability of support services on campus and advice on how high school students with disabilities can prepare themselves for college. Particularly important skills relate to self-advocacy, initiative, and time management. These skills can be used to address disability-related transition issues, such as self-reporting of disability, articulating accommodation needs, coordinating auxiliary assistance, and making living arrangements. This paper lists differences between high school and college environments, questions for teachers to assess student independence, and strategies to develop student decision-making skills. (SV)