Inmates at Jessup Correctional Institution, one of Maryland’s state prisons, will now be able to get a college education from Bowie State University, an HBCU.
Those who were accepted into the program have their tuition and fees covered through federal Second Chance Pell Grants.
Dr. Anthony Jackson is the co-director of the prison education program.
Professors go into the prison to teach the classes, and Jackson says students are eager to get an education and attend an HBCU.
"Walking toward the classrooms and just seeing how interested they were in absorbing all the information they could, that was life changing for me," Jackson said.
There are seven students currently enrolled in the program, and they take four courses each semester toward a bachelor of science degree in sociology.
While they’re starting small, the university is hoping to grow the degree program to include hundreds of students.
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According to the university, incarcerated citizens must have graduated from high school or successfully completed their GED in order to participate in the program.
Jackson says the program is meant to empower those who are underserved and marginalized.
"We want to uplift the communities, we want to empower them to really create change," Jackson said.
