Alt Credits & Degree For An Inmate

[SweetSecret]

I know a young man who is currently incarcerated, and we are not sure how long he will be in for. He was in juvenile detention before, for about 4 years, and they really did not do him any service. He comes from a challenging background and still could not read when he left juvenile detention. Now he is in jail facing his first felony, and possibly three years in prison. When he went into jail most recently he did not have his high school diploma, but my understanding is that he finished it. He wants to get into something related to aviation/cars such as mechanics. I would like to see him go to college, and have talked to him about this. He is interested. I have reason to believe he might be able to get into Spartan College with a decent scholarship or grant, although TESU might be an option too, but if he is convicted he might not be able to attend for another three years. 

This brings me to the idea of trying to get him to gain credits while incarcerated. The facility he is currently in does not seem to have any system set-up currently for inmates to gain college credits. They also just instituted a new rule that they are not allowing mail, so everything goes to a different location where it is scanned, emailed to the facility, and then printed and given to the inmates. I think there is a four page limit, but I am not sure if they would have that for correspondence study. They also have digital tablets, but I am not sure if inmates can be given access to college or alt credit websites to study from. 

Does anyone have any advice or experience about this?

These are the two degree programs I was primarily looking at for him:

https://www.spartan.edu/wp-content/uploa...df#page=61

or

https://www.tesu.edu/ast/programs/as/avi...technology

[Tedium]

While it is NA, and may not be what you're looking for, NationsUniversity offers prisoner services. They would be familiar with the process and could potentially help speed things along. It's not in a trade or anything, but it would be a good start for him to test the distance learning waters while he is incarcerated, and get some good, accredited experience under his belt.

Plus, the religious education might benefit him when it comes time for parole. There are worse places to get your start, and it would be helpful until he finds his footing. Just a thought.

https://nationsu.edu/prison-services-faq/

[sanantone]

https://www.ohio.edu/online/programs/print/correctional

[rachel83az]

TESU does have an Incarcerated Students program: https://www.tesu.edu/academics/self-directed-courses Incarcerated students are even eligible for scholarships: https://www.tesu.edu/tuition/scholarship...y-criteria

But Aviation technology is not going to be something that he can get while in prison! Nothing mechanical, really. Those require a lot of in-depth study with courses that contain labs (or work similar to labs). For aviation specifically, I think he'd have to take courses at a local school that offered hands-on mechanical work with planes. That's clearly not happening here until he gets out.

How old is he? You say he just left juvie, so he's got to be at least 18. I think they sometimes keep prisoners in until they're 20 or 21, though? Does he have any access to the internet, however limited, or would his only interaction with the outside world be via 4 pages of physical mail at a time?

[carrythenothing]

Have you already checked nearby community colleges to see if they offer any certificate/degree programs?

[rachel83az]

They also have digital tablets, but I am not sure if inmates can be given access to college or alt credit websites to study from. 

I missed this line before. He should see if he can go to Sophia.org. That might be the only alt-credit he can get because most of the others require access to a webcam for proctoring purposes. He might be able to do Davar, too. They let you use a local proctor, which in this case would be a sympathetic corrections officer.

If he can access Sophia & Davar, he'd be able to get a business degree (or at least most of one) while inside. Having a business degree as a mechanic would actually be a good idea. A lot of mechanics go on to open their own shops, and having a basic understanding of how to run a business properly would be crucial.

He could also use ONU ( https://degreeforum.miraheze.org/wiki/Ol...University ) for at least some of his gen eds. Assuming, of course, he can get access.

AFAIK, if the sites are blocked, you can sometimes petition to have them unblocked. It might be a long and arduous process, but it could be worth it. I also think that some prisons run an exclusionary web filter while others run an inclusionary one. I.E., at some prisons, they block "everything except these specific sites" and at other prisons they allow "everything except these sites and sites that match these words" and there's no way to tell which is which without trying to go to these sites.

[Jonathan Whatley]

Adding to the great resources above:

Adams State University Print-based (aka Prison College Program, Correspondence College Program)
Ashland University Correctional Program
Brigham Young University Independent Study
Catholic Distance University Educational Opportunities for Incarcerated Students (NA DEAC)
Colorado State University-Pueblo Independent Study (includes Print-Based Correspondence)
Northeast WI Technical College Incarcerated Based Learning (Print-Based Correspondence)
Rio Salado College Incarcerated Re-Entry Distance Learning
Upper Iowa University Self-Paced Via Mail

Blackstone Career Institute Paralegal Certificate Training for Inmates
College Guild Free, secular, noncredit correspondence courses for prisoners.
Set Free Prison Ministries Free Bible study courses for prisoners from sources including Emmaus Correspondence School and Moody Bible Institute. Might not be credit but they might be able to help with avenues for credit.

Correctional Education Association Professional association of educators in corrections settings.

---

This brings me to the idea of trying to get him to gain credits while incarcerated. The facility he is currently in does not seem to have any system set-up currently for inmates to gain college credits.

I'm not surprised, but my conscience is shocked.

They also just instituted a new rule that they are not allowing mail, so everything goes to a different location where it is scanned, emailed to the facility, and then printed and given to the inmates. I think there is a four page limit, but I am not sure if they would have that for correspondence study.

I'm not surprised, but my conscience is shocked.

[SweetSecret]

Thank you everyone for all of the great ideas! Through what was posted, I found out about the second chance pell grant. The governor in the state he is incarcerated in just made school free for undergraduate and certificate programs, but that will not go into effect until July, and I am not sure if it covers incarcerated individuals. However, I started contact the in-state schools with programs for people who are incarcerated, the schools that are on the department of education's second chance list for pell grants, and any place that looked like they had a really stand out program. So far I have contacted:

TESU
Adams State
New Mexico State University—Grants Branch
New Mexico Junior College
CNM
Ohio University
Ashland University
Rio Salado Community College


On Monday I plan to call:

Eastern New Mexico University Rosewell
Mesalands Community College - received a bounce back on my e-mail.
New Mexico State University—Grants Branch

I did get ahold of an old copy of the inmate handbook. There's no mention of any college/university access, only the charter school for completing high school.

For anyone else looking for information on this in the future, my understanding is that as of 2023 (probably July) the pell grant will be available to incarcerated individuals again, beyond just those attending schools with the second chance initiative. Meanwhile, I found these two sites helpful:

https://experimentalsites.ed.gov/exp/pdf...ipants.pdf - Starting on page nine for the second chance experimental site initiative

https://www.higheredinprison.org/national-directory - List view worked best for me.

[Jonathan Whatley]

Study.com has made efforts to make content available to students in secure facilities. Here's a promotional article about this: Study.com for Students in Secure Facilities (bestaccreditedcolleges.org, October 20, 2021), and here's a playlist on Study.com's YouTube channel: Education for Secured Facilities.

[muu9]

Thank you everyone for all of the great ideas! Through what was posted, I found out about the second chance pell grant. The governor in the state he is incarcerated in just made school free for undergraduate and certificate programs, but that will not go into effect until July, and I am not sure if it covers incarcerated individuals. However, I started contact the in-state schools with programs for people who are incarcerated, the schools that are on the department of education's second chance list for pell grants, and any place that looked like they had a really stand out program. So far I have contacted:

TESU
Adams State
New Mexico State University—Grants Branch
New Mexico Junior College
CNM
Ohio University
Ashland University
Rio Salado Community College


On Monday I plan to call:

Eastern New Mexico University Rosewell
Mesalands Community College - received a bounce back on my e-mail.
New Mexico State University—Grants Branch

I did get ahold of an old copy of the inmate handbook. There's no mention of any college/university access, only the charter school for completing high school.

For anyone else looking for information on this in the future, my understanding is that as of 2023 (probably July) the pell grant will be available to incarcerated individuals again, beyond just those attending schools with the second chance initiative. Meanwhile, I found these two sites helpful:

https://experimentalsites.ed.gov/exp/pdf...ipants.pdf - Starting on page nine for the second chance experimental site initiative

https://www.higheredinprison.org/national-directory - List view worked best for me.

while you're working on all of this/waiting for July, would he be able to get access to any math books? You can get college algebra (I'm assuming his prealgebra is good) textbooks for fairly cheap. Alternatively, he could use his tablet to browse a textbook on libgen.is and write along on paper. I'm assuming he gets access to paper in order to mail letters? If you tell me how he is in math I can recommend a specific textbook. He could also read other books on self-development if you want recommendations.