An exciting graduation day is coming up. A record number of students at the Utah State Correctional Facility are graduating with an associate’s degree.
“We’re super proud and excited for all of them,” said Chris Bradbury, Coordinator of the Salt Lake Community College’s Prison Education Program.
“Some of them have put in a lot of work for years to get to this point in their lives.”
Salt Lake Community College is one of the largest in-person prison education programs in the country. College faculty members engage with students directly and teach in-person. They are the only school in the Utah Correctional Facility to offer an associate’s degree.
“84% of students who get an associate’s degree while incarcerated don’t return to prison,” said Bradbury. “A college education lowers recidivism.”
This Spring, SLCC offered 40 classes that lead to eight associate’s degrees: Anthropology, Business, Criminal Justice, English, General Studies, History, Humanities, and Paralegal Studies.
More than two dozen SLCC faculty members teach in the Prison Education Program, and the program’s class completion rates are high, with approximately 90% of students completing their classes.
“Having a college education opens up new doors, new jobs, and new opportunities that they may not have had previously,” said Bradbury.
For more information, visit slcc.edu.
What an excellent and positive program that is literally changing lives for the better!
Keep it up Chris and SLCC. More of this please!