The current literature suggests that there are two fundamental dimensions of social value that underlie social judgments: social desirability and social utility. The purpose of the present research is to explore whether two components of social utility (i.e., competence and effort) have distinct roles in predicting academic success among students with and without disabilities. In Study 1, 174 students read a short scenario depicting a student with or without physical disabilities, showing high (versus low) academic performance. They were asked to judge the target on social desirability, competence and effort. In Study 2, the reversed paradigm was used: 185 students were asked to report predictive judgments about the academic potential of a student with or without disabilities presented in terms of high desirability versus high competence or high effort. In general, the results showed that academic success was perceived to be more strongly related to competence than to effort. Moreover, students with disabilities were evaluated more positively on effort.