Department of Education

NATIONAL TECHNICAL INSTITUTE FOR THE DEAF

Fiscal Year 2021 Budget Request

CONTENTS

Page

Appropriations Language .........................................................................................................L-1

Analysis of Language Provisions and Changes....................................................................... L-2

Appropriation, Adjustments, and Transfers ............................................................................. L-3

Authorizing Legislation............................................................................................................ L-4

Appropriations History............................................................................................................. L-5

Activity:

National Technical Institute for the Deaf.............................................................................L-6

NATIONAL TECHNICAL INSTITUTE FOR THE DEAF

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Appropriations Language

For the National Technical Institute for the Deaf under titles I and II of the Education of the 

Deaf Act of 1986, $79,500,000: Provided, That from the total amount available, the Institute may 

at its discretion use funds for the endowment program as authorized under section 207 of such 

Act.

1

(Department of Education Appropriations Act, 2020.)

NOTES

Each language provision that is followed by a footnote reference is explained in the Analysis of Language 

Provisions and Changes document that follows the appropriation language.
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Analysis of Language Provisions and Changes

Language Provision Explanation

1...Provided, That from the total amount 

available, the Institute may at its discretion 

use funds for the endowment program as 

authorized under section 207 of such Act.

This language provides authority for the 

Institute to use funds from the general 

appropriation for the Endowment Grant 

program.
NATIONAL TECHNICAL INSTITUTE FOR THE DEAF

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Appropriation, Adjustments, and Transfers

(dollars in thousands)

Appropriation/Adjustments/Transfers 2019 2020 2021

Discretionary:

Discretionary budget authority: Appropriation ................................................. $77,500 $79,500 $79,500

Discretionary budget authority: Total, discretionary appropriation............... 77,500 79,500 79,500
NATIONAL TECHNICAL INSTITUTE FOR THE DEAF

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L-4

Authorizing Legislation

(dollars in thousands)

Activity

2020

Authorized

2020

Estimate

Footnote

2021

Authorized

Footnote

2021

Request

Operations (EDA l-B)................................................. 0

1

$79,500 To be determined1 $79,500

Construction (EDA l-112).................................................... 01

0 To be determined1 0

Endowment (EDA II-207).................................................... 01 

(2) To be determined1

 

(2) 

Total appropriation.............................................................. 79,500 79,500

Portion of the request subject to reauthorization ........... 79,500

1 The GEPA extension expired September 30, 2015. Reauthorizing legislation is sought for fiscal year 2021.

2 Funding for the Endowment Grant program is provided together with funding for operations through a single appropriations amount. Appropriations language is 

included to authorize National Technical Institute for the Deaf, at its discretion, to use funds for the Endowment Grant program from the total amount available.
NATIONAL TECHNICAL INSTITUTE FOR THE DEAF

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Appropriations History 

(dollars in thousands)

Year

Budget

Estimate

to Congress

House 

Allowance footnote

Senate 

Allowance

footnote

Appropriation

2012 $65,037 $65,5461$65,5461$65,422

2013 65,037 65,422265,422262,000

2014 65,422 N/A366,422 66,291

2015 66,291 N/A366,291467,016

2016 67,016 68,0165 69,016570,016

2017 70,016 70,0166 70,0166 70,016

2018 69,540 70,0167 70,0167 73,0007

2019 70,016 75,0008 76,500877,500

2020 70,016 80,000 78,5009 79,5009

2021 79,500

1 The level for the House allowance reflects an introduced bill and the level for the Senate allowance reflects Senate 

Committee action only.

2 The levels for the House and Senate allowances reflect action on the regular annual 2013 appropriations bill, which 

proceeded in the 112th Congress only through the House Subcommittee and the Senate Committee.

3 The House allowance is shown as N/A because there was no Subcommittee action.

4 The level for the Senate allowance reflects Senate Subcommittee action only.

5 The levels for House and Senate allowances reflect action on the regular annual 2016 appropriations bill, which 

proceeded in the 114th Congress only through the House Committee and Senate Committee.

6 The levels for the House and Senate allowances reflect Committee action on the regular annual 2017 

appropriations bill./

7 The level for the House allowance reflects floor action on the Omnibus appropriations bill; the Senate allowance 

reflects Committee action on the regular annual 2018 appropriations bill; the Appropriation reflects the Consolidated 

Appropriations Act, 2018 (P.L. 115-141).

8 The levels for the House and Senate allowances reflect Committee action on the regular annual 2019 

appropriations bill; the Appropriation reflects enactment of the Department of Defense and Labor, Health and Human 

Services, and Education Appropriations Act, 2019 (P.L. 115-245).

9 The Senate allowance reflects the Chairman’s mark; the Appropriation reflects the Further Consolidated 

Appropriation Act, 2020 (P.L. 116-94).

____________________________________________________________________________________________
NATIONAL TECHNICAL INSTITUTE FOR THE DEAF

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National Technical Institute for the Deaf

(Education of the Deaf Act, Title I, Part B and Section 207)

(dollars in thousands)

FY 2021 Authorization: To be determined1

Budget authority: 

2020

Appropriation

2021 

Request

Change from 

2020 to 2021

$79,500 $79,500 0

1 The GEPA extension expired September 30, 2015; reauthorizing legislation is sought for fiscal year 2021.

PROGRAM DESCRIPTION

Congress created the National Technical Institute for the Deaf (NTID) in 1965 to promote the 

employment of persons who are deaf by providing technical and professional education. The

Department of Education is authorized to maintain an agreement with a host institution for the 

operation of a residential facility for postsecondary technical training and education for 

individuals who are deaf or hard of hearing, and to provide a Federal subsidy to the National 

Technical Institute for the Deaf to provide postsecondary educational opportunities.

The Department maintains a contract with the Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) in 

Rochester, New York, for the operation of NTID. NTID is one of nine colleges of RIT. The 

purpose of the relationship with the host institution is to provide NTID students access to more 

facilities, institutional services, and career preparation options than could be otherwise provided 

solely by a stand-alone national technical institute for the deaf. RIT provides NTID students with 

options for courses of study from its eight other colleges, along with health and counseling 

services, library, physical education, and recreation facilities, and general services such as food, 

maintenance, grounds, and security.

Academics: NTID offers a variety of technical programs at the sub-baccalaureate degree level, 

including certificates, diplomas, and associate degrees. Students enrolled at NTID can earn 

associate degrees in 21 accredited programs. Qualified students can also earn baccalaureate, 

master’s, or doctoral degrees in approximately 200 programs offered by RIT’s other colleges in 

subjects areas including: Art and Design, Business, Computing and Information Sciences,

Engineering, Health Sciences and Technology, Liberal Arts, and Science. NTID offers a 

Bachelor of Science ASL-English Interpretation degree program to prepare sign-language 

interpreters for work in settings where deaf, hard-of-hearing and hearing people interact and 

communicate. In addition, NTID administers a Master of Science program in Secondary 

Education to prepare students to help meet the national need for qualified deaf, hard-of-hearing, 

and hearing teachers and leaders in the field of deaf education as well as a Master of Science in 
NATIONAL TECHNICAL INSTITUTE FOR THE DEAF

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Health Care Interpretation to meet the demand for specialized sign-language interpreters in 

health care settings.

Students with hearing loss who enroll in NTID programs are provided a wide range of support 

services and programs to help them prepare for careers, including tutoring, remedial and 

language enrichment programs, counseling, notetaking, interpreting, mentoring, specialized 

educational media, cooperative work experiences, and specialized job placement.

NTID conducts research designed to enhance the lives of deaf and hard-of-hearing people. 

Research and scholarship focus on teaching and learning, communication, technology, access 

and support services, and employment and adaptability to social changes and the global 

workplace. NTID also conducts training workshops and seminars nationwide for professionals 

who employ, work with, teach, interpret for, or otherwise serve persons who are deaf or hard of 

hearing.

Endowment Grant Program: The Federal Endowment Grant program is designed to assist in 

building NTID’s financial capacity and reducing the need for Federal funds by providing 

matching grant funds that serve as an incentive for private contributions. NTID has the 

discretion to determine the amount of funds it wants the Department to provide from the annual 

appropriation as matching funds, capped by the amount contributed to the fund from 

non-Federal sources. The Education of the Deaf Act (EDA) allows NTID to withdraw or expend

up to 50 percent of the income of the fund; the other 50 percent must be reinvested in the 

corpus. As of September 30, 2019, net assets in the NTID Federal Matching Endowment Fund, 

including Federal, private, and reinvested funds, were $65.1 million.

Other Revenue: In addition to the Federal appropriation, NTID receives revenue from a variety 

of other sources. In fiscal year 2019, NTID reported approximately $35.3 million in other 

revenue from tuition ($18.1 million), room and board ($7.2 million), student activity fees

($258 thousand), Federal and State grants and contracts ($4.2 million), private contracts 

($294 thousand), gifts and private grants ($2.0 million), endowment income ($1.6 million) and 

other sources such as interpreting and captioning services provided to the Rochester Institute of 

Technology (RIT) and programs outside of RIT, the NTID Hearing Aid Shop, and fees from 

grant programs renting space ($1.6 million). This represents an increase of approximately 

$2.5 million in revenue from the $32.8 million NTID received from these sources for fiscal year 

2018.

Regional Partnership: NITD established a partnership with the Alabama Institute for the Deaf 

and Blind in fiscal year 2016 to operate the NTID Southeast Regional Science, Technology, 

Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) Center (Center). The fiscal year 2019 appropriation 

provided NTID $5.5 million, an increase of $3.5 million, to expand the geographical reach of this 

partnership to improve access to postsecondary STEM education and employment for students 

in underserved areas who are deaf or hard of hearing. During fiscal year 2019, NTID expanded 

the Center’s region to include Arkansas, Oklahoma, and Texas in addition to the original nine 

States. Outreach and training efforts in the expanded region included supporting conferences 

such as the Southeast Regional Institute on Deafness, hosting STEM events and camps, 

providing scholarships to deaf or hard of hearing students attending RIT/NTID, and conducting

trainings for employers to encourage the hiring of individuals who are deaf or hard of hearing 

into STEM fields.
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Funding levels for the past 5 fiscal years were:

Fiscal Year (dollars in thousands)

2016..........................................................................$70,016

2017............................................................................70,016

2018............................................................................73,000

2019............................................................................77,500

2020............................................................................79,500

FY 2021 BUDGET REQUEST

The Administration requests $79.5 million for the National Technical Institute for the Deaf (NTID)

in fiscal year 2021, the same as the fiscal year 2020 appropriation, to maintain strong support 

for NTID’s efforts to promote educational and employment opportunities for persons who are 

deaf or hard of hearing. 

The request would continue the policy of giving NTID discretion to determine the portion of 

appropriated funds used for the Endowment Grant program in 2021, as the Administration

believes this program helps to promote NTID’s financial independence.

UNIVERSITY OPERATIONS DATA

(whole numbers)

Operations Data 2019 2020 2021

Undergraduate tuition (U.S. students) $16,518 $17,162 $17,831

Undergraduate tuition (International students) 33,0361,2 34,3241,2 35,6621,2

Graduate tuition (U.S. students) 19,190 20,034 20,716

Graduate tuition (International students) 38,3801,3 40,0681,3 41,4321,3

Fees 584 646 667

Room 7,598 7,902 8,155

Board 5,662 5,800 5,986

NOTE: All data are provided by NTID.

1 Tuition rate increases are proposed by NTID annually, but may not exceed 10 percent in any given year.

2 Graduate students are charged a 10 percent surcharge above the tuition rate for undergraduate students.

3 A tuition surcharge for international students is required; the Higher Education Opportunity Act of 2008 provides that 

NTID may develop a sliding scale model to reduce the surcharge, with different surcharge levels set depending on 

student need and whether the student’s country of origin is considered developed or developing.
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UNIVERSITY OPERATIONS DATA

(whole numbers)

Operations Data 2019 2020 2021

Enrollment (deaf students only – includes 

international students, excludes Master’s in 

Secondary Education program students):

Technical (Career Exploration Studies and 

Sub-Baccalaureate) deaf students only, incl udes inter national students 449 449 449

Professional Undergraduate deaf students only, incl udes i nternati onal students 506 506 506

Professional Graduate deaf students only, i ncludes inter national students 50 50 50

Total deaf studentsincludes inter national students 1,005 1,005 1,005

Degrees granted

Associate and certificate degrees granted 116 116 116

Baccalaureate and graduate degrees ranted granted 186 186 186

Total degrees granted 302 302 302

Co-op (work experience) placements 270 270 270

NTID faculty/student ratio 1 1:7.6 1:7.6 1:7.6

NTID teaching faculty/student ratio 2 1:9.5 1:9.5 1:9.5

NOTE: All data are provided by NTID.

1

 Includes all personnel with faculty rank.

2

 Includes all personnel with faculty rank, except researchers and administrators.

____________________________________________________________________________________________

PROGRAM PERFORMANCE INFORMATION

Performance Measures

This section presents selected program performance information, including, for example, GPRA 

goals, objectives, measures, and performance targets and data; and an assessment of the 

progress made toward achieving program results. Achievement of program results is based on 

the cumulative effect of the Federal resources provided for this program as well as the 

resources and efforts invested by those served by the program.

Goal: To provide deaf and hearing students in undergraduate programs and professional 

studies with state-of-the-art technical and professional education programs, undertake a 

program of applied research; share National Technical Institute for the Deaf expertise, 

and expand outside sources of revenue.

Objective: Maximize the number of students successfully completing a program of study.
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Measure: The percentage of first-time, full-time degree-seeking sub-baccalaureate and 

baccalaureate students who were in their first year of postsecondary enrollment in the previous 

year and are enrolled in the current year.

Year

Sub-Baccalaureate 

Target

Sub-Baccalaureate 

Actual

Baccalaureate 

Target 

Baccalaureate 

Actual

2016 70% 70% 86% 83%

2017 70 71 87 88

2018 75 64 90 81

2019 75 90

2020 75 90

2021 75 90

Additional Information: Data for 2019 will be available in fall 2020. 

Measure: The percentage of first-time, full-time degree-seeking sub-baccalaureate students 

and baccalaureate students who graduate within 150 percent of the program-based length of 

time. 

Year

Sub-Baccalaureate 

Target

Sub-Baccalaureate 

Actual 

Baccalaureate 

Target

Baccalaureate 

Actual

2016 38% 40% 65% 74%

2017 39 37 65 70

2018 41 38 65 80

2019 41 76

2020 41 76

2021 41 76

Additional Information: Data for 2019 will be available in fall 2020. 

Measure: The percentages of graduates who are employed, in advanced education or training, 

or are neither employed nor enrolled in advanced education or training during their first year 

after graduation.

Year

Employed 

Target

Employed 

Actual

Advanced Ed 

Target

Advanced Ed 

Actual

Neither 

Target

Neither 

Actual

2016 50% 49% 45% 42% 5% 9%

2017 50 53 45 42 5 5

2018 50 57 45 35 5 8

2019 50 45 5

2020 50 45 5

2021 50 45 5

Additional Information: Any graduate who was simultaneously employed and in advanced 

education or training was placed into the category that best described their status. Data for 2019 

will be available in fall 2020.
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Efficiency Measures

Objective: Improve the efficiency of operations at NTID as defined by the cost per successful 

student outcome, where the successful outcome is graduation.

Measure: Total Federal cost per NTID graduate.

Year Target Actual

2016 $222,827 $191,200

2017 222,827 221,200

2018 228,398 223,600

2019 232,052

2020 N/A

2021 N/A

Additional Information: The Federal cost per graduate, as reported by NTID, includes 

graduates who receive sub-baccalaureate, baccalaureate, and master’s degrees. The measure 

is calculated by averaging the Federal appropriation for a particular year and the previous 

5 years, and dividing the figure by the number of graduates for that school year. Data for 2019 

will be available in fall 2020.

The Department recognizes that this measure is flawed by its aggregation of degree types and 

assumption of a 6-year time-to-completion regardless of degree obtained. Consequently, the 

Department is working with NTID to revise this measure and targets for 2020 and beyond to 

account for disaggregation of data by program type.

Measure: Total educational cost per NTID graduate.

Year Target Actual

2016 $267,737 $237,300

2017 267,737 272,800

2018 274,430 276,400

2019 278,821

2020 N/A

2021 N/A

Additional Information: The measure, which looks at the total cost of educating a student at 

NTID as an indication of how efficiently the university operates, is calculated by averaging the 

total annual student expenditures for a particular year and the previous 5 years, and dividing the 

figure by the number of graduates for that school year. Graduates include students receiving 

certificates, diplomas, associates degrees, baccalaureate degrees, and master’s degrees. The 

cost is composed of the total program budget excluding expenditures associated with research, 

public services, auxiliary enterprises, and construction. Data for 2019 will be available in fall 

2020.

The Department is working with NTID to revise this measure and targets for 2020 and beyond to 

account for disaggregation of data by program type.