Cal State LA’s Prison Graduation Initiative (PGI) was well grounded by the time the university introduced the program to the California Institution for Women (CIW) in Chino in 2022.
PGI, the state’s first in-person bachelor’s degree completion program for incarcerated students, had by then graduated more than 40 students from its initial two cohorts at the California State Prison, Los Angeles County in Lancaster. However, transferring the valuable lessons learned from six years working with male students at Lancaster was not enough to guarantee success at CIW. It was not a simple cut-and-paste situation.
Cal State LA’s faculty and staff quickly learned that CIW’s female student population faced unique situations that hindered the women’s ability to complete their education if they were to parole before earning their Bachelor of Arts in Liberal Studies. PGI addressed the various issues with an internal mandate: ensure CIW’s students graduated in two years…