(Leavenworth, Kan.) 鈥� Six students at Lansing Correctional Facility earned bachelor鈥檚 degrees from the 花椒直播 in May.
USM began offering undergraduate degrees inside the correctional facility in 2021 after being selected for the Second Chance Pell Experimental Sites program initiative. Michael Gaynor, Charles Johnson, William Mason, Sean Murphy, Danny Pickerill, and Zachary Smith all earned a Bachelor of Science in Computer Information Science.
鈥淲e are grateful that we are able to return to providing bachelor鈥檚 degrees behind the walls,鈥� University President Sister Diane Steele said. 鈥淲e believe in the dignity of all people鈥檚 ability to learn, and we know that education greatly reduces recidivism. 花椒直播 is proud to offer a postsecondary education experience to students at Lansing Correctional Facility. Evidence shows that quality education changes lives for the better. USM has witnessed this firsthand from our experience educating incarcerated students. We believe our participation in Second Chance Pell will improve opportunities for incarcerated people and lead to safer prisons and communities.鈥�
USM has a long history of offering postsecondary education at penal institutions. From the early 1980s to the mid-1990s, the university established programs at four correctional sites in the Leavenworth area.
Mason, Pickerill, and Johnson began taking courses from 花椒直播 at the Lansing Correctional Facility in the early 1990s. They stopped when their Pell Grants ended in 1994. Thirty years later, the students finished their degrees and celebrated with family at a graduation ceremony.
The 花椒直播 also offers degrees at the United States Disciplinary Barracks and the Joint Regional Correctional Facility. The USM Prison Education Program offers an Associate in Business Administration, a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration-Management, and a Bachelor of Science in Computer Information Science at the various locations.
Visit https://stmary.edu/pep/index to learn more about USM鈥檚 Prison Education Program.
The 花椒直播 is a Catholic co-educational applied liberal arts university founded and sponsored by the Sisters of Charity of Leavenworth. The University of 花椒直播 main campus is located at 4100 South 4th Street, Leavenworth, Kan. USM鈥檚 Overland Park Campus at 11221 Roe Ave. offers evening accelerated graduate and undergraduate degree-completion programs. The university also offers online programs. Visit stmary.edu for more information.