ORANGEBURG, S.C. — Transforming the lives of people willing to learn is what Claflin University seeks to do as they are one of 67 colleges across the nation to be selected to participate in the 'Second Chance' Pell Grant Pilot program.
The program, which is funded by the U.S. Department of Education, provides need-based federal Pell grants to individuals incarcerated in federal and state prisons.
The grants give those in prison a chance to receive federal funding to enroll in postsecondary programs offered by local colleges and universities or distance learning.
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Dr. Belinda Wheeler, Director for the Center of Social Justice and the 'Pathways to Prison' program at Claflin, talks about how the benefits of an education will not only help those in prison but their future communities
"Most people who are currently incarcerated will eventually be released once they served their time," says Dr. Wheeler, "These individuals will be our neighbors, they are going to be in our community and with an education they will be better equipped to not only help themselves to help their families and help the entire community around them."
If all goes accordingly and the state begins to see a decline in coronavirus cases, the university plans to roll out these courses virtually and potentially in person within the federal and state prisons this upcoming fall.
