Over 200 incarcerated Nebraskans are pursuing higher education this spring semester through a new partnership between Southeast Community College (SCC) and the Nebraska Department of Correctional Services (NDCS).
NDCS Director Rob Jeffreys and SCC President Dr. Paul Illich commemorated the collaborative effort this week, signing a Memorandum of Understanding for the partnership.
NDCS Director Rob Jeffreys (left) and SCC President Dr. Paul Illich sign a Memorandum of Understanding for the partnership. (SCC)
The program, called UPWARD (Unlocking Potential With Academic Resources and Development), is currently offering an Associate of Arts degree under the umbrella of SCC’s Academic Transfer program. Beginning in fall 2024, they will begin offering Associate of Applied Science degrees in business, welding, CDL/truck driving, automotive technology, computer information technology, design and drafting, and culinary. Course work with in these degrees will be transferable as UPWARD expands.
“Our vision is to create a community where every student, regardless of their past, has the chance to rise above their circumstances,” SCC’s Dean of Correctional Education Amy Doty told KLIN News. “We envision the program as a source of transformation, equipping participants with the tools and
mindset needed to break the cycle of involvement in the justice system and engage with their families, communities, and the workforce in Nebraska in meaningful ways.”
Incarcerated individuals who participate in correctional education programs are 43% less likely to return to prison within three years and those odds decrease as they achieve higher levels of education, according to NDCS Director Rob Jeffreys.
“There’s a 13% increase in immediate employment for people who’ve had some kind of education or vocational training during their term of incarceration,” said Doty, driving the point home. “The shorter the gap between release and meaningful employment, the less likely someone is to continue that cycle. This is really about breaking that cycle.”
SCC enrolled 229 incarcerated individuals for the 2024 spring semester, and more than 30 SCC faculty are teaching on-site and revising courses to meet security needs. Classes are conducted in-person and on a similar schedule as SCC’s other campuses. For individuals who participated in admissions testing and have a release date prior to the end of the spring 2024 semester, SCC is working with them as they transition home to enroll in summer 2024 session classes at the college’s campuses and learning centers.
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- Testing session at the Nebraska State Penitentiary in Lincoln. (NDCS)
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- Class in session at the Nebraska Correctional Center for Women in York. (NDCS)
Last year, the Department of Education reinstated Federal Pell Grant eligibility to incarcerated individuals. However it takes time for a Prison Education Program (PEP) to receive approval from the department. While waiting for approval to become a Pell-funded PEP, SCC has begun offering courses to incarcerated individuals using alternative funding methods.
“We’re an open access institution… we’re not going to make students wait for us to go through that process and to have it finished up,” said Doty. “We have a five year plan of adding layers to different programs. We chose these programs based on workforce needs in Nebraska, student interest, and whether those career pathways are welcoming to individuals reentering society.”
These opportunities mean one thing to it’s students according to Doty: “Hope.”
“If you think of a standard class of kids, and you picture the most hungry, the most eager students, the ones asking for extra work… Now picture a
classroom made up entirely of those students. That’s what it’s like,” she said. “They’re so very grateful. One of our instructors says, every time she leaves the classroom, there’s a line waiting to shake her hand and thank her for coming. The students are always asking, ‘We’ll see you the next day, right? You’re coming back tomorrow, right?’ Because it really is life changing, hope giving, and transformative in nature.”
Classes are taught in Lincoln at the Nebraska State Penitentiary (NSP), Reception and Treatment Center (RTC), Community Corrections Center – Lincoln (CCC-L) and the Center for People for CCC-L students. Classes are also taught in York at the Nebraska Correctional Center for Women (NCCW). SCC provides laptops for students to use and expand their digital literacy, working closely with NDCS to ensure these devices meet all security standards.
The following courses are offered this semester and most meet twice-per-week for a total of three hours-per-week:
- CCC-L: Introduction to Psychology, Fundamentals of Human Communication, Success at SCC, Transitions
- Center for People: Microsoft Applications, Success at SCC, Transitions
- NCCW: Transitions, Composition I, Writing Workshop, Success at SCC
- NSP: Composition I, Writing Workshop, Beginning College Reading and Writing, Intermediate College Reading and Writing, Introduction to Business, Business Communications, American History, Success at SCC, Transitions
- RTC: Public Speaking, American History, Success at SCC, Transitions