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Over 30 students graduated from Salt Lake Community College’s (SLCC) Prison Education Program at the Utah State Correctional Facility on May 13. Thirty-one received an associate’s degree, most in General Studies, a few in Anthropology and Criminal Justice. One graduate earned two
Four of the graduates spoke to a small audience about how earning an associate’s degree has changed their lives. Becky Golly, shared her personal story of being a single mom, working three jobs, and becoming addicted to drugs. When she was sentenced to prison, she felt hopeless and believed her life was over. Then in 2019, some fellow inmates encouraged her to take a class, and to stick with it—it had been 27 years since she graduated from high school.
“The skills, certificates, and degrees I’ve received over the last six years have changed my future in ways I could never have dreamed. It also positively affects my children’s lives,” said Golly, who earned an associate’s degree in General Studies and one in Criminal Justice. “I’m keeping the promise I made [to my children] when I got to prison. I told them that I cannot change what got me here, but I would change and fix all the unhealthy parts of myself and come home as the mom they always deserved to have.”
New graduate Bradley Freeze said that the educational journey had helped all of them learn and see beyond the cell walls and the limits of their own life experiences. “It has created change in our minds, in how we think, act and feel in our hearts,” said Bradley, who earned an associate’s degree in General Studies.
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SLCC Prison Education Program is Growing
This past year, nearly 300 students, men and women, have participated in SLCC classes offered at the Utah State Correctional Facility, which is about 10% of the facility’s population.
This Spring, SLCC offered 40 classes for pathways leading to nine associate degrees: Anthropology, Business, Criminal Justice, English, General Studies, History, Humanities, Paralegal Studies, and Philosophy and Religious Studies. More than forty SLCC faculty members, many who teach on SLCC’s campuses, also teach in SLCC’s Prison Education Program.
The SLCC prison education program (PEP) is one of the few in-person options available for students to take classes that can lead to a post-secondary degree in the Utah State Correctional Facility. Currently, SLCC is the only school in the Utah Correctional Facility to offer an associate’s degree. Davis Tech has been offering technical education there since 2010.
“Providing education in the prison makes so much sense on both a practical level and a human level. It transforms individuals’ sense of self, promotes hope and ability, and this ultimately benefits society,” said David Bokovoy, director of SLCC’s Prison Education Program.
He pointed out an Emory University study that found recidivism dropped by 84% for those earning an associate’s degree. “In short, college students are less likely to return to prison,” said Bokovoy, adding that studies have also shown that for every dollar spent on prison education, it saves taxpayers at least $4 in reincarceration costs.
SLCC’s prison program started as a small pilot program in 2017 with funding from the Utah State legislature. In 2020, the U.S. Department of Education designated SLCC as a Second Chance Pell experimental site, allowing incarcerated students to use federal Pell Grants to attend.
Today, SLCC has one of the largest in-person prison education programs in the country in which faculty engage with students directly and teach face-to-face.
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