Two years ago, the U.S. Department of Education announced that 67 colleges and universities in 27 states — including the University of Maine at Augusta — had been selected to take part in the Second Chance Pell Experimental Sites Initiative. The goal of the pilot program was to test whether a greater number of people in prison would participate in high-quality education programs if they had greater access to financial aid to pay for such programs.
Initial results suggest the pilot is working. Since Second Chance Pell launched, 954 credentials, including certificates, associate’s degrees and bachelor’s degrees, have been awarded to students in prison thanks to expanded access to postsecondary education financial assistance. Here in Maine, we have awarded 72 degrees to date: 67 to incarcerated individuals at the Maine State Prison, four at the Women’s Reentry Center and one so far at the Maine Correctional Center.
Read the full article at the BDN site.
I was released from Prison July 4th 2015 and went thru the Caf”e program thru Bangor Adult ED. I will Receive my A.A.S in Electrical Automation from Eastern Maine Community Collage December 2018. I am attending UMaine now and i am enrolled in the Electrical Engineering Technology Program for a B.S. degree. I will Graduate May 2020. If it was not for Scholarships and financial aid my life would have gone no where. More should be done for those who are interested in higher education while in prison and especially when they get out to keep them on the right path to success and a healthy life style. If anyone would like to hear my story of success, the challenges i face and how I did it all, feel free to contact me.
Huge steps in the right directions. Departments of Education and Corrections working together with the community will generate positive results all around, in my opinion. Restorative justice is already making a positive impact.