Programs Let Inmates Earn University Degree While in Prison

 

In 2012, Rena Sard was sentenced to five years in prison at the Maryland Correctional Institute for Women. She was 47 years old.

“I didn’t have five years of my life to waste…So, every chance that I had to do something that was productive¹, something that was going to help me become a better person, I grabbed² it.”

Sard enrolled³ in the Goucher Prison Education Partnership⁴ (GPEP). GPEP is a program with Goucher College, a private university located north of the city of Baltimore. With GPEP, and programs like it, inmates⁵ can use their time in prison to make progress towards their first college degrees.

But the work is not easy.

For five years, Sard woke up at 4:30 each morning. She ate breakfast, did her job at the prison's mental health clinic, and then went to her college classes.

Last January, Sard finished her sentence, and next spring she will finish her first Associate's degree. Officers tell her that she is a completely different person than the one who entered prison.

Sard credits her time with GPEP for that change. She believes it helped give her the strength to be a better person, and the motivation to do something with her life.

“It helped me take a very bad situation and make it into the best that I could possibly do while I was there.”

Turning time into degrees

Along with the women's prison where Sard was, GPEP has partnered with the Maryland Correctional Institute Jessup, a prison for men. During the program’s five-year existence, it has grown from 15 students to around 100, says Jennifer Munt, assistant director for College Operation.

To be admitted to the program, inmates go through an admission process similar to an on-campus program. The program also requires students to have a GED or high school degree. They then complete a paper application, sit for a placement exam, and have an individual interview.

The program offers only one degree, American Studies. But students have many choices of classes, including sociology⁷, history and philosophy.

What is most important, Munt says, is that students are free to follow academic studies that interest them.

“We do ask of all faculty⁸ and volunteers with GPEP that they not look up students’ histories, because we think that is information that the students should be in control of... we want students to have the freedom to be students."

Munt also said that students are not required to write or talk about their time in prison or why they were incarcerated⁹. She added that, sometimes, students may choose to explore these topics in class on their own, however.

After starting the program, students take courses taught by professors from Goucher College and other nearby universities. The professors are all experts in their fields. Munt says it is important that they also have “a history of good teaching.”

Programs like these are not common in the United States. In 1994, a crime bill ended prisoners’ ability to apply for federal student assistance. Since then, it has been difficult for inmates to take college-level courses while in prison. Programs like GPEP have existed, but had to rely on private donations.

However, last year the U.S. Department of Education started a program called the Second Chance Pell Pilot Program to bring back student aid for prisoners. They selected Goucher College as one of the recipients¹¹ of the program.

Turning something bad into something good

For GPEP students like Sard, the chance to spend a prison sentence as a student can be life-changing.

“Before I went in, I had no self-esteem, no self-confidence, no self-worth. I suffered from a very horrible childhood. The best word to describe myself would have been I was ‘broken’…. I was a shell”

For Sard, learning she could succeed at school helped her realize her own worth. After she started to receive good grades in her classes, she gained self-confidence. She realized that she had the ability to be more productive in her life.

“I really, truly believe the more that you can stay busy and occupied doing something that’s productive, the better you're doing your time. To sit around and just do nothing… that stuff will drive you batty.”

Sard did not have the chance to finish her degree while at the Maryland Correctional Institution for Women. But after finishing her sentence in January, she immediately started classes at Chesapeake College to complete her Associate's degree in Human Services. She will then go to Salisbury University to finish her Bachelor’s degree.

Next, Sard says, she would like to work as a social worker, helping¹² women who have been abused, or are suffering from addiction¹³.

Supporting inmates’ education

There are other programs like GPEP that support inmates’ education.

In New York State, an organization called the Prisoner Reentry Institute (PRI) has partnered with Otisville Correctional Facility to provide college-level classes for inmates. However, PRI students do not earn their degrees in prison, but after.

“That was intentional,” says Bianca Vanheydoorn, Director of Educational Initiatives¹⁴ for PRI. “We wanted them to use the time while inside to earn the credits, but we also wanted them to have the campus experience.”

The program also supports inmates after they finish their sentences and are applying to colleges. It provides academic counselors¹⁵, as well as connections with students in the community.

For PRI, the support and communication outside the prison is as important as the work that happens inside.

“We are safely in contact with about 90 percent of the students. Of those who have come home, half have enrolled in school,” she said.

Vanheydoorn says about 300 students in their program have earned degrees since 2002.

'Like being in Niagara Falls...on a toothpick'

While programs like these have been successful, the biggest difficulty is meeting the large need of the institutions they serve.

“We’ve gotten hundreds of letters from people on the inside looking to get in,” says Munt. “It’s like being in Niagara Falls, and they raft we are on is a toothpick”.

Vanheydoorn adds that PRI’s first goal is making sure they are giving the best service they can to students with their current partnerships¹⁶. However, PRI would like to experiment with different ways to support students during and after their time in prison.

Both Vanheydoorn and Munt agree that programs like these are important to helping prisoners adjust to life outside of prison.

Sard agrees.

“When you come home, it’s scary...GPEP gives you the education…and the knowledge that will help you to come home and to stay home.”

I’m Alice Bryant.

And I’m Phil Dierking.

Words in This Story

academic - adj. of or relating to schools and education?

addiction - n. a strong and harmful need to regularly have something (such as a drug) or do something (such as gamble)?

apply - v. to ask formally for something (such as a job, admission to a school, a loan, etc.) usually in writing?

batty - adj. foolish or silly?

confidence - n. a feeling or belief that you can do something well or succeed at something

inmate⁶ - n. a person who is kept in a prison or mental hospital?

incarcerate¹⁰ - v. to put (someone) in prison?

productive - adj. doing or achieving a lot?

motivation - n. the act or process of giving someone a reason for doing something?

self-esteem - n. a feeling of having respect for yourself and your abilities?

toothpick - n. a short, pointed stick used for removing small pieces of food from between your teeth

1 productive   

adj.能生产的，有生产价值的，多产的

参考例句：

• We had a productive meeting that solved some problems.我们开了一个富有成效的会议，解决了一些问题。
• Science and technology are part of the productive forces.科学技术是生产力。

2 grabbed   

v.抢先，抢占( grab的过去式和过去分词 )；（尤指匆忙地）取；攫取；（尤指自私、贪婪地）捞取

参考例句：

• He was grabbed by two men and frogmarched out of the hall. 他被两个男人紧抓双臂押出大厅。
• She grabbed the child's hand and ran. 她抓住孩子的手就跑。

3 enrolled   

adj.入学登记了的v.[亦作enrol]( enroll的过去式和过去分词 )；登记，招收，使入伍（或入会、入学等），参加，成为成员；记入名册；卷起，包起

参考例句：

• They have been studying hard from the moment they enrolled. 从入学时起，他们就一直努力学习。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He enrolled with an employment agency for a teaching position. 他在职业介绍所登了记以谋求一个教师的职位。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 partnership   

n.合作关系，伙伴关系

参考例句：

• The company has gone into partnership with Swiss Bank Corporation.这家公司已经和瑞士银行公司建立合作关系。
• Martin has taken him into general partnership in his company.马丁已让他成为公司的普通合伙人。

5 inmates   

n.囚犯( inmate的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• One of the inmates has escaped. 被收容的人中有一个逃跑了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The inmates were moved to an undisclosed location. 监狱里的囚犯被转移到一个秘密处所。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 inmate   

n.被收容者；(房屋等的)居住人；住院人

参考例句：

• I am an inmate of that hospital.我住在那家医院。
• The prisoner is his inmate.那个囚犯和他同住一起。

7 sociology   

n.社会学，社会关系学，群落生态学

参考例句：

• He is studying sociology.他正研究社会学。
• A pioneer of legal sociology in Germany was Max Weber.德国法律社会学的先驱是马克斯·韦伯。

8 faculty   

n.才能；学院，系；(学院或系的)全体教学人员

参考例句：

• He has a great faculty for learning foreign languages.他有学习外语的天赋。
• He has the faculty of saying the right thing at the right time.他有在恰当的时候说恰当的话的才智。

9 incarcerated   

钳闭的

参考例句：

• They were incarcerated for the duration of the war. 战争期间，他们被关在狱中。 来自辞典例句
• I don't want to worry them by being incarcerated. 我不想让他们知道我被拘禁的事情。 来自电影对白

10 incarcerate   

v.监禁，禁闭

参考例句：

• Why do you incarcerate yourself in the room every afternoon?你为何每天下午将自己关在房间里？
• Many people think that it is wrong to incarcerate criminals in confined quarters for as long as thirty years.很多人认为把罪犯监禁在禁闭营里达30年之久是不对的。

11 recipients   

adj.接受的；受领的；容纳的；愿意接受的n.收件人；接受者；受领者；接受器

参考例句：

• The recipients of the prizes had their names printed in the paper. 获奖者的姓名登在报上。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The recipients of prizes had their names printed in the paper. 获奖者名单登在报上。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

12 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

13 addiction   

n.上瘾入迷，嗜好

参考例句：

• He stole money from his parents to feed his addiction.他从父母那儿偷钱以满足自己的嗜好。
• Areas of drug dealing are hellholes of addiction,poverty and murder.贩卖毒品的地区往往是吸毒上瘾、贫困和发生谋杀的地方。

14 initiatives   

n.主动性( initiative的名词复数 )；主动的行动；初步；主动权

参考例句：

• Economic policy is liberalized to encourage initiatives in production. 放宽经济政策以鼓励生产的积极性。
• They are tireless in thinking up initiatives. 他们不厌其烦地想出种种采取主动行为的倡议。

15 counselors   

n.顾问( counselor的名词复数 )；律师；（使馆等的）参赞；（协助学生解决问题的）指导老师

参考例句：

• Counselors began an inquiry into industrial needs. 顾问们开始调查工业方面的需要。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• We have experienced counselors available day and night. ) 这里有经验的法律顾问全天候值班。） 来自超越目标英语 第4册

16 partnerships   

n.伙伴关系( partnership的名词复数 )；合伙人身份；合作关系

参考例句：

• Partnerships suffer another major disadvantage: decision-making is shared. 合伙企业的另一主要缺点是决定要由大家来作。 来自英汉非文学 - 政府文件
• It involved selling off limited partnerships. 它涉及到售出有限的合伙权。 来自辞典例句