Contacts:Nancy Green, Director of Corrections Education, [email protected], 503.399.5050
Program Description: The College Inside program is a degree program designed to allow incarcerated students to obtain a two-year college degree that can transfer to a four year university with a focus on general studies, Business or Automotive Technology. College Inside allows students to be in control of their own educational and employment future. The program requires students to think and plan for the future, outside of prison. The program is not just something to do while in prison. It requires effort, responsibility, drive, and commitment.
It creates change in thinking patterns for incarcerated students and facilitates a growth toward responsible and accountable community participation.
College Inside, through education, provides opportunity. The benefits of this opportunity are noteworthy and shared by all members of the community.
Degrees Offered: Associate of Arts Oregon Transfer, Associates of Science — Business, Associates of Applied Science — Automotive
Programs Offered: Courses leading to an Associates of Arts Oregon Transfer degree, Associates of Science Business degree, and Associates of Applied Science degree (automotive) — including math, writing, science, communication, psychology, history, political science, art, foreign, language, health, etc.
Unique Features: The College Inside program is unique because it is a very successful degree program inside three local area correctional facilities. The program has been carefully designed to ensure that the academic needs of the students are met in a timely manner so that they may graduate prior to releasing from prison.
All of the classes are taught by qualified college professors and are conducted with the same high level of expectation and academic performance as a regular campus class.
College Inside’s high standards/expectations for behavior, academic performance, and commitment ensure it has a very low drop out rate, very high graduation rate, and outstanding performance with 95% of the students maintaining a B average, and an overall average GPA of 3.5.
Headquarters: OR
Correctional Facilities Served: Oregon State Penitentiary, Oregon State Correctional Institution, Mill Creek Correctional Facility
Population Served: Incarcerated individuals from designated institutions with less than five years left on their sentence, a high school diploma or equivalency, and 18 months of clear conduct. Those meeting the education and clear conduct requirement that have outside funding or can self-pay also enroll in the program.
Number of Students: Total of over 100 students
Graduates to Date: 27
Year Founded: 2007
Founders: Initiated by anonymous donor; founding managed by Nancy Green
College/University/Organization Partnerships: Chemeketa Community College
Funding: An anonymous donor primarily supports College Inside and annually renews his funding commitment. Chemeketa staff also donate to the program through the college’s Foundation Office. For 10-11 a grant funding youth was available through the federal government federal funding ended as a result of budget cuts).