Second Chance U: Lincoln University brings a 'life-changing' college experience to Jefferson City Correctional Center

Razor wire. Electric fences. Armed guards. Cameras everywhere. It's not your typical college setting. But then again, the Jefferson City Correctional Center (JCCC) is not your typical college campus.

Yet behind the walls of Missouri's maximum-security prison, Lincoln University of Missouri is making a college education available for those ready to take that next step on the path to a new life and new opportunities.

Expanding on the vision of the university's founders to provide access to education to all Missourians, Lincoln launched its prison education program in the fall of 2022. Funding is provided by the Second Chance Pell Experiment, a U.S. Department of Education initiative that expands access to federal Pell Grants for incarcerated individuals enrolled in participating colleges. Inmates attend classes taught by Lincoln University faculty who travel the eight miles from the LU campus to the prison. The program offers a Bachelor of Liberal Studies (B.L.S.) degree.

The goal of the program is to reduce recidivism, meet workforce needs and increase public safety through educational programs. Data has consistently shown that offenders who receive degrees through prison education programs are about 50 percent less likely to return to prison, and every dollar invested in prison-based education saves taxpayers four to five times that much through reduced incarceration costs.

The Jefferson City Correctional Center opened in 2004 on the northeast edge of the state capital. Eligible inmates may apply to the Lincoln University Prison Education Program to earn a Bachelor of Liberal Studies degree. (Photo by LU Associate Professor William K. Sites)

"These programs work. Literally," says Will Sites, a Lincoln University associate professor of journalism who teaches English in the prison education program at JCCC.

Ten students enrolled in the inaugural cohort in 2022, says program director Gary Kowaluk, an assistant professor of criminal justice at Lincoln. Another 14 signed up for classes in 2023. This fall, Kowaluk says, between seven and nine students will begin their LU studies.

All students in both cohorts have received passing grades so far in every class and are on track to receive their degrees within five years of enrolling, Kowaluk adds. "The student-prisoners are making exceptional progress," he says. "They have a strong desire to succeed. They attend most classes and do most of the readings. They are always prepared for exams and submit papers on time."

Five students have left the program - four were paroled and one was transferred to another prison. The parolees plan to continue on their higher education paths as free men.

"It was a life-changing process," says former inmate Ramsey Pickins, part of the original cohort of students who enrolled in the program two years ago. "I loved the challenge and insight the classes brought into my life."

Pickins spent three decades in Missouri state prisons, convicted of second-degree murder and armed criminal action. Paroled in March, he is living and working in Jefferson City and has registered for fall classes at Lincoln as a full-time student. He has changed his degree path to computer science and business and hopes to graduate in two to three years.

Lincoln University Associate Professor Will Sites teaches English in the LU Prison Education Program at Jefferson City Correctional Center.

Sites is especially proud of Pickens. "At 51, he is probably the oldest student and was released from prison this spring," he says. "He has always been serious about earning a degree and being a productive citizen in society. He is continuing with his Lincoln classes, visiting professors on campus and has talked to my campus students about his life and his future. After 30 years in prison, the world is new to him, but you wouldn't know it."

Sites teaches English in the prison program as part of the general education requirement for the B.L.S. degree. This gives him contact with all the JCCC students. The experience has made him a better educator, he says. "It has been extremely rewarding," Sites says. "True, I get a lot of satisfaction watching students learn and grow. That's the joy of teaching. But my JCCC students give me something my young campus students do not - insight. And what they give me I use in my campus classrooms."

There are differences between teaching on a traditional college campus and teaching in a prison, Sites notes. Some contrasts are obvious - security is tight in the prison and professors must navigate a series of locked doors just to arrive at their classrooms. Yet, he says, "I have always been treated with friendly greetings and have never felt anything but safe."

There are welcome differences as well. "Classrooms are typical, just like any school except no Wi-Fi," Sites says. "But the greatest thing? No phones! Perhaps one of the best things about teaching at JCCC is the lack of distractions - namely the evil cell phone. It's quiet. I forget I'm in a prison."

Class format also differs; each course offered meets one night a week from 5 to 7:30 p.m. Sites teaches on Thursday evenings. "That's the standard 150 minutes a week for a three-hour-credit course," he says. The change takes a bit of adjustment for professors who normally teach classes on a Monday/Wednesday/Friday or Tuesday/Thursday schedule. "But I've learned to like it because we can get into discussions and not have to stop," Sites says. "I have no access to Wi-Fi or other technology found in a campus classroom. It's old school teaching, which has forced me to be more efficient, to focus on what is significant and valuable. And that has carried over to my campus classroom."

The students challenge Sites to be the best he can be. "These students are very dedicated to the program," he says. "They are trying to prepare for a successful return to society - and they're using education to do it."

Lincoln professors in the prison education program all note that JCCC students come to every class period ready to learn. "They've wasted enough time being in prison," Sites says. "They're done with that. For some of them, this is the last shot at personal and social redemption. I'm not going to waste their time."

The Jefferson City Correctional Center opened in 2004 on the northeast edge of the state capital. Eligible inmates may apply to the Lincoln University Prison Education Program to earn a Bachelor of Liberal Studies degree. (Photo by LU Associate Professor William K. Sites)

The Second Chance Pell Experiment is reaping rewards on both sides of the prison bars. Former inmate Ramsey Pickins found direction. "College turned dreams into tangible goals that I could readily achieve," he says. Another inmate found common ground with his child who is also attending a university. The shared college experience is making a big difference in their relationship as they both aim for better futures.

Since 1865, Lincoln University has focused on a better future for all Missourians through education. The emancipated soldiers of the 62nd and 65th United States Colored Infantries founded Lincoln at the end of the Civil War, donating $6,400 they collected to endow the educational institution and locate it in the state capital of Jefferson City. The soldiers' vision has endured for nearly 160 years as it has grown to embrace opportunities for every segment of society through education. Their dream stands as a testament to the power of learning and its impact on the world.

For professors such as Will Sites, this unique teaching role has taught him a few things as well and brought new perspectives to his life. "I've learned that teaching adults in an institutional setting creates a lot of challenges - and opportunities," he says. "Without technology available, it's more personal and interactive. This creates a classroom that really is a marketplace of ideas."

The lessons learned extend beyond the classroom. "My JCCC students remind me that if we're willing to reach out to some of society's most hidden, and maybe make a difference, imagine what we can do on campus," Sites says. "And if some of my JCCC students graduate from college and become productive citizens, imagine what that means for society. Their influence - as students, fathers, sons, uncles, grandfathers and friends - is truly infinite."

Public link

Please use the above public link if you want to share this noodl on another website.