Professors and students want Georgia State University to keep its college-in-prison program open. The institution’s leaders say new federal standards make it too costly to do so.
Perimeter College, a community college that’s part of Georgia State University, celebrated its first graduating class of incarcerated students last year. Nine students at Walker State Prison, clad in caps and gowns, earned associate degrees in general studies through the university’s Prison Education Project (GSUPEP).
The program, which started eight years ago, currently operates in two state prisons and one federal prison and serves a total of roughly 60 students. University officials are planning to shut down the program over the next few years to the shock and dismay of professors and students who thought the program was thriving.
Cynthia Lester, interim dean of Perimeter College, sent a November message to faculty and staff members involved in the program explaining that it couldn’t afford to maintain the program after the restoration of Pell Grants to incarcerated students. The reinstatement of the grants, which officially took effect last July after a 26-year ban, requires college programs in prisons to meet strict federal standards to ensure their students can receive the funding.
Looks like Georgia has figured out those pieces of paper aren’t worth the price of the print on them. They should ask Mike Rowe for advice.
The inmates made their career choice before going to prison, why change now ?