By JILL FANKHAUSER
Alaska Star

Twenty-three inmates at the Hiland Mountain Correctional Center earned their GED diplomas in August. Students are required to complete 10 hours of class per week, study and take tests. Some students have other inmates as tutors. Star Photos by Jill Fankhauser

It took a five-year sentence at Hiland Mountain Correctional Center for Elizabeth Morgan, 20, to turn her life around. Morgan went to prison for committing robbery when she was 17. She will be released next year as an educated woman with a diploma and college credits — ready for a full-time college experience.

Morgan, along with 22 other female inmates, received their General Education Development (GED) diplomas last week. Another got her high school diploma, completing classes through a correspondence program. Four inmates, including Morgan, were awarded certificates for completing a trade course in carpentry.

“What you have achieved is a monumental step in your lives,” said Hiland's Superintendent Dean Marshall. “You no longer have to go out and try to explain to employers why you don't have a GED or high school diploma.”

Elizabeth Morgan received her GED and a trade certificate. She plans to apply to colleges in the fall and major in accounting. Morgan will be released in May 2009.

Providing support, said Joyce Oswald, one of the prison's education coordinators, is a primary part of the education program's success. Students are required to spend 10 hours a week in the classroom. Oswald said they offer classes 12 hours a day, seven days a week; they work around inmates schedules to fit in hours between other activities, like prison jobs or support groups.

Education coordinators work closely with students, providing assessments and regular GED testing, matching them with inmate tutors and giving them information about colleges and programs that might help them once inmates are released.

In 2006, 35 inmates got their diplomas; in 2007, 41 inmates earned diplomas. As of July 2008, 24 women had received their diplomas. There are several women who are only a few tests away from earning diplomas.

“Nationwide, they have found the higher the level of education an inmate receives, the more likely they are not to return to prison,” Oswald said. “There are significant studies out there that indicate that education reduces recidivism.”

The education department has set up Hiland as a site for college prep tests, such as the SAT and ACT.

Morgan is studying for those tests and is currently taking general education classes through a distance-learning program with the University of Alaska Fairbanks. This September she will start applying for colleges, which she hopes to attend after she's released next May. She's working with QuestBridge, a nonprofit organization that helps match students to top universities. Some of the schools she'll be applying to include Stanford University and Wellesley College. Morgan has her sites on a master's degree in accounting.

“I love math. I'm really good in math. I like bookkeeping, payroll. I like an office setting job format,” Morgan said.

Morgan said her education has turned life around for her.

“When I came, I was a very angry, naive and stubborn teenager. And I didn't want to do anything,” Morgan said. “Seeing life in a whole new perspective was the hardest point.”

Former Hiland education coordinator Janis Weiss, now the executive director of YWCA in Anchorage, ran the program from 1995-2006. She said inmates have a lot of challenges to overcome. Many are in substance abuse programs or wrapped up their legal issues, as well as trying to “get in the mix” to fit in and be accepted by other inmates.

“They have fears of not being successful, for whatever reason,” Weiss said. “Part of our job was building self confidence.”

Oswald, who has been working in inmate education for more than a decade, said she enjoys working with the women at Hiland.

“I find it a very inspirational group of students to work with,” Oswald said. “They are very hard working, very dedicated and enthusiastic about learning, and highly motivated.”

This article published in The Alaska Star on Thursday, September 4, 2008.