In 1857, the 34th Congress passed H.R. 806, which chartered the grammar school as the Columbia Institution for the Instruction of the Deaf and Dumb and the Blind and funded tuition costs for indigent deaf, dumb (mute), or blind children belonging to the District of Columbia.[8] Seven years later, in 1864, the 38th Congress authorized the institution to grant and confirm college degrees.[9] The collegiate department became known as the National Deaf-Mute College.