Georgetown University last month started its bachelor’s degree program for incarcerated students in Maryland with 25 students at the Patuxent Institution in Jessup.
The program is expected to enroll 125 students over the next five years, according to a news release.
Students will be able to earn a Bachelor of Liberal Arts degree.
“This degree program is a model for how universities can bring transformative education opportunities into prison and support second chances,” Georgetown Prisons and Justice Initiative Director Marc Howard said. “We are proud and excited to welcome this talented group of students into the classroom.”
The admissions process, in partnership with the Maryland Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services, started last fall. More than 300 people from across the Maryland prison system applied, the school said.
Students who were accepted welcome the chance.
“My main goal is just to continue to evolve, to continue to see what life has to offer me,” Rasheed Edwards said. “I think that this Georgetown program is going to take me further in life, take me to places I didn’t even think were possible for me. It’s giving me a chance to change my trajectory in life.”
A second group of 25 students is expected to be brought into the program this year.
Georgetown’s Prison Scholars Program has offered courses at the D.C. Jail since 2018.
