National Technical Institute for the Deaf

National Technical Institute for the Deaf (NTID), the first and largest technological college in the world for students who are deaf or hard of hearing, was founded in 1965. As one of eight colleges within the Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) in Rochester, New York, NTID provides academic programs, access, ASL in-class interpreters and support services—including on-site audiological, speech-language, and cochlear implant support. NTID has 1,100 deaf and hard-of-hearing students who study with 14,400 hearing students on the RIT campus.

In addition to the Master of Science Program in Secondary Education of Students who are Deaf or Hard-of-Hearing, NTID also offers associate and bachelor’s degree programs in ASL-English Interpretation.

History
Public Law 89-36, which provided for the establishment and operation of a National Technical Institute for the Deaf, was signed into law by President Lyndon Baines Johnson on June 8, 1965. NTID, a federally funded institution located on the campus of the Rochester Institute of Technology, was the first technological college for deaf students in the world. The primary objectives of NTID at the time it was established were:


 * To provide, for postsecondary deaf students, the opportunity to prepare for and to pursue semiprofessional and professional level educational programs in science, technology and applied arts that lead to successful employment in business, education, government and industry.
 * To provide special support services, within an institution of higher learning, which facilitate and encourage deaf students to achieve a high degree of personal, social, and cultural development.
 * To encourage qualified deaf students to pursue graduate studies at RIT or elsewhere.
 * To conduct research into the occupational and the employment related aspects of deafness.
 * To develop and evaluate new imaginative instructional technology for application in the education of deaf students.
 * To conduct training programs, seminars, and short courses relating to deafness for RIT personnel, for graduate students preparing to work professionally with the deaf, and for other special groups.
 * To disseminate information regarding current NTID practices concerning curriculum, courses of study, special services, and research findings related to those offering programs for deaf children and to the RIT educational community.
 * To develop and modify the educational specifications, to design and construct the facilities, to procure the equipment, and to develop and maintain the staff necessary to meet the objectives of NTID.

Students
NTID was established as part of a larger university (Rochester Institute of Technology) to serve as a model provider of technical curricula and support services for deaf and hard of hearing students; it now serves over 1,200 students each year in a variety of programs ranging from certificate-level technical training through graduate studies. More than 460 deaf and hard-of-hearing students are fully matriculated in the other seven colleges of RIT, supported by NTID with more than 94,000 hours of interpreting, more than 54,000 hours of notetaking, more than 14,000 hours of tutoring/advising, and almost 5,000 hours of C-Print captioning (a total of 1,798 class sections).

NTID's support services and training programs have become national and international models; its success is validated by the fact that NTID alumni (over 5,200 to date) enjoy a 95% placement rate, with almost three-quarters of them in business and industry. NTID graduates with Bachelor's degrees earn 300% more than deaf people with only high school degrees, and those with sub-Bachelor's level degrees earn 216% more than peers with only high school degrees.