Goucher College is offering an American Studies degree for inmates at two Jessup Correctional facilities. The program has been around for five years, and is now working with 100 prisoners.
The degree could get reformed inmates a job in marketing, advertising, political administration or media, among other things.
The program started with the idea to give people who are impoverished, and didn't have access to a college education, the chance to better themselves and their future so they can succeed when they are released, according to Amy Roza, the director of the program.
At the Maryland Correctional Institute for Women and the Maryland Correctional Institution in Jessup, men and women can apply to enroll in the partnership.
They must go through an application process like any other college applicant, and must be in the correctional facility for at least a year to get accepted.
Once an inmate is enrolled in classes, their schedule gets pretty busy. They're up around 4 a.m. to work at the prison from 6:30 a.m. until around 2 p.m. Then class, working in a computer lab and and studying from around 3 p.m. until 9 p.m.
Some inmates are released before they can complete the degree. They can then transfer their credits to another university or college.
Goucher, a college founded in 1885, was originally the Women's College of Baltimore.
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