Incarcerated Individuals, on average, are less educated than the general population. Many lack basic literacy, a high school diploma or equivalent, and the occupational skills necessary to secure a job. Moreover, having a felony conviction can be a significant barrier to finding employment after prison. One proven strategy for enhancing successful reentry is to provide education to inmates while incarcerated so they have the knowledge, training, and skills to support a successful return to their communities. The Reentry & Rehabilitation Division provides these opportunities, providing literacy assessments and interventions, adult education, higher education, and an array of technical college education.
Adult Education
The Reentry & Rehabilitation division partners with the Utah State Board of Education’s Utah Adult Education program to provide adult education services. Adult education programs proactively address each student’s basic literacy and secondary credential needs, thereby affording students opportunities for post-secondary training, employment, and personal success. Programs provide quality instruction and continuity of services across the state; ensuring students are afforded an educational experience that is comparable in intensity and rigor to a traditional K-12 high school program.
Higher Education
Salt Lake Community College’s (SLCC) Prison Education Program was piloted in the spring of 2017 with funding from the Utah State Legislature. All classes are taught by SLCC faculty or adjuncts in alignment with SLCC standards for excellence. The program provides inmates a chance to earn college credits and work towards a General Studies Associates Degree. All classes count towards this goal, and every credit earned inside the prison is transferable anywhere in the state. Obtaining a higher education facilitates returning citizens with continued training or educational opportunities, which translates into a documented impact on reduced recidivism rates and taxpayer savings.
The University of Utah’s Utah Prison Education Program (UPEP) provides on-site college curriculum to two groups of students incarcerated in the Utah State Correctional Facility.
Technical College Certifications
The Reentry & Rehabilitation Division provides training opportunities through intergovernmental agreements with Davis Technical College for men and women in the Utah State Correctional Facility and Snow College for men only housed in the Central Utah Correctional Facility (CUCF is a male-only facility). Reentry & Rehabilitation also contracts technical college education services for male students in the Duchesne County Jail through Uintah Basin Technical College.
UDC Prison Education Programs
The Utah Department of Corrections (UDC) seeks to establish partnerships with eligible education institutions willing to create and maintain Prison Education Programs (PEP) at designated UDC facilities. Per 34 CFR § 668.236, following the official application and approval process, these PEPs would have access to Federal Pell funding for all eligible incarcerated students. We invite any education institution interested in creating a PEP and providing education services within a UDC facility or partnering county jail in Utah to submit a PEP application or reach out with additional questions.
UDC is specifically interested in expanding education services to provide additional technical certificates within partnering county jails and associate’s and bachelor’s degree options at the Salt Lake and Gunnison facilities and county partners. You can find the Prison Education Program Application here.