CSUN gets $5 million to work with the deaf

The U.S. Department of Education has awarded Cal State University Northridge’s (CSUN) National Center on Deafness a $5 million five-year contract to help deaf and hard-of-hearing students make the transition to college and then into the workforce.

The money will expand work already being done by the center’s Western Region Outreach Center and Consortia (WROCC). The WROCC works with colleges, universities, state departments of education, vocational agencies and high schools to make the transitions to college and the workforce take place as seamlessly as possible.

The WROCC works at the institutional level to ensure most colleges and universities are prepared to serve the needs of students who are deaf and hard-of-hearing.

Founded in 1964 as "an expression of the deep commitment" by CSUN to meet the educational needs of deaf and hard-of-hearing students, the National Center on Deafness has helped more than 2,500 people to graduate.

The center provides sign language interpreting and other specialized services to nearly 300 deaf students, serving the largest university population of deaf and hard-of-hearing students in the western U.S.