EDUCATION REPORT - Two U.S. Schools Teach Foreign Students Who Cannot HearBy Nancy Steinbach

Broadcast: Thursday, March 31, 2005

I'm Gwen Outen with the VOA Special English Education Report.

We continue our reports for students around the world who want to attend a college or university in the United States. This week, we tell about two schools for students who cannot hear.

One is the National Technical Institute for the Deaf in Rochester, New York. It is one of eight colleges within the Rochester Institute of Technology. And it is the world's first and largest technical college for the deaf or hard of hearing.

The Rochester Institute of Technology has about fifteen thousand students. Almost one hundred of these are international deaf or hard of hearing students. They are from Africa, Asia, Europe and South America.

It costs about twenty-five thousand dollars a year for an international undergraduate student to attend the National Technical Institute for the Deaf. International graduate students pay about eighteen thousand dollars a year. Both undergraduate and graduate students can receive financial aid and take part in the university's student employment program. This program makes it possible for students to work at the university.

More information about the school and its programs can be found on its website at http://www.ntid.rit.edu/

Another American college for the deaf is Gallaudet University in Washington, D.C. It is the only university in the world where all programs and services are designed for deaf and hard of hearing students. About two thousand students attend Gallaudet. The cost for international students is about sixteen thousand dollars a year. Financial aid comes in the form of scholarships only.

Most scholarship aid goes to students in financial need who perform extremely well in school. One scholarship for international students is designed to help deaf students from developing countries. TOEFL scores are not required for admission.

Gallaudet University also offers an English Language Institute that teaches English as a second language. But taking part in the program does not guarantee acceptance at the university. Information about these and other programs can be found on the university's web site at http://www.gallaudet.edu/.

This was week thirty-one of our Foreign Student Series. You can find the other programs on the Web site: http://www.unsv.com.

This VOA Special English Education Report was written by Nancy Steinbach. I'm Gwen Outen.