SCHUMER, GILLIBRAND ANNOUNCE OVER $73 MILLION IN FED FUNDING INCLUDED FOR ROCHESTER INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY’S NATIONAL TECHNICAL INSTITUTE FOR THE DEAF (NTID) IN OMNIBUS BILL
Schumer & Gillibrand Have Long Fought For Funds For NTID To Help Deaf And Hard-Of-Hearing New Yorkers Get Education and Find Jobs
U.S. Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer and U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand today announced more than $73 million was included in the omnibus bill for the Rochester Institute of Technology’s National Technical Institute for the Deaf (NTID). Schumer and Gillibrand said the new bill included an additional $3 million above Fiscal Year (FY) 2017 levels. The funding was included as part of the FY2018 Omnibus, which the President recently signed into law.
NTID provides a college education to deaf and hard-of-hearing students from around the country and gives them the skills and training they need to find jobs and advance their careers. Federal funding allows NTID to invest in critical areas such as instruction, sign language, and captioning services. With this higher funding level, NTID will be able to increase its grants in aid for students, reduce the costs of receiving a degree, as well as propose new technical programs that would offer specialized training for employment in high-tech industries.
“Rochester Institute of Technology’s National Technical Institute for the Deaf is nationally recognized as one of the best schools in the country for deaf and hard-of-hearing students. The inclusion of this $73 million in federal funding, an increase of $3 million from last year’s allocation, will allow the NTID to continue investing in programs that better prepare students for future employment and better equip teachers with the training needed to be successful in the classroom,” said Senator Schumer. “I am pleased my colleagues voted for this vital bill and will continue fighting for NTID in the future so that it can continue adding to the local economy and creating a brighter future for the thousands of students who walk through its doors each year.”
“These federal funds will help ensure that the National Technical Institute for the Deaf in Rochester can continue to be one of the world’s great destinations for deaf and hard-of-hearing students,” said Senator Gillibrand. “Our deaf and hard-of-hearing students should have every opportunity to get a good education and good-paying jobs after they graduate, and the National Technical Institute for the Deaf plays a uniquely important role in making that happen. I was proud to fight for this funding, and I will continue to do everything I can to make sure the entire Rochester community gets the resources it needs to thrive.”
According to NTID, approximately 94 percent of its graduates were placed in jobs commensurate with their education level, consistent with NTID’s average employment rate of 93 percent over the last 10 years. Our first-year persistence rates and graduation rates for both sub-baccalaureate students and baccalaureate students continue to be higher than the national rates for students at two-year and four-year colleges. Using data from the Social Security Administration, NTID can show that its graduates, over their lifetimes, are employed at a much higher rate, earn substantially more, and participate at a much lower rate in government support programs like Social Security Insurance and Social Security Disability Insurance than students who withdraw from NTID or earn degrees from other institutions of higher education.
Schumer and Gillibrand have long fought for NTID. Gillibrand wrote to Congressional appropriators last spring to ensure continued support in this year’s spending package. Last year Schumer and Gillibrand helped secure $70 million for NTID in Fiscal Year 2017. In 2016, Schumer and Gillibrand announced that the 2016 omnibus deal included over $70 million in federal funding for NTID, a $3 million dollar increase from 2015.
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