Cody Zimmer’s first college courses were in horticulture.
At Dick Conner prison in Hominy, Oklahoma, he and other Tulsa Community College (TCC) students grew so many flowers that they could share plants with the medium-security side of the facility, “which is layers and layers of fences,” Zimmer said.
During his time in the program, horticulture students sent plants to downtown Pawhuska, Oklahoma and the Gathering Place in Tulsa. Each year, the students received saplings from Tulsa nonprofit Up with Trees. They would “do our darndest to keep them alive and ready to be planted back in Tulsa,” Zimmer said.
Outside the prison, people were enjoying what they grew.
“It was like keeping a foot in the door of a world that you are not a part of at the time,” he said.
Through the Second Chance Pell Grant pilot program, Zimmer earned two associate’s degrees from TCC while serving his sentence at Dick Conner prison. He also took bachelor-level classes from Langston University through the Second Chance Pell program.
Zimmer credits his education with helping him demonstrate his work ethic to employers and build a career after leaving prison. Now he is a fabrication lab manager at TCC.
Last year, incarcerated students became eligible for Pell Grant funding after a decades-long ban. The grants provide low-income undergraduate students with up to about $7,400 in federal financial aid per year.
Now state corrections agencies are responsible for approving prison education programs to operate and receive Pell funding in their prisons.
But students’ behind-bars access to the funding—and the education that comes with it—depends on the prison. Some facilities lack higher education programs, and some states still aren’t prepared to approve prison education programs.
Pell Grant access expected to expand to more prisons in about 40 states
In 1994, President Bill Clinton signed into law an expansive criminal justice package that, among other things, banned incarcerated students from receiving Pell Grant funding. About 20 years later, some students gained access to the grants through the Second Chance Pell pilot.
Last year, incarcerated students officially became eligible for Pell Grant funding through the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) Simplification Act that Congress passed in 2020.
The more than 200 colleges and universities participating in the Pell pilot also must receive state approval to be eligible for Pell funding under the law.
Two years after approving a program, corrections agencies are required to evaluate how well the program is meeting students’ needs.
Some colleges and universities are continuing to participate in the Pell pilot without applying with their state corrections agency.
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During an interview in late January, Ruth Delaney, program director for the Vera Institute of Justice‘s Unlocking Potential initiative, said colleges and corrections departments in more than 40 states have told Vera that they expect access to Pell Grants to expand under the new regulations.
“We’re going to see expansion,” Delaney said. “Because of this multi-step process, it’s taking a little bit to kind of see that come to fruition, but what’s really exciting is we’re seeing colleges and (departments of corrections) are ready.”
How Tennessee’s application process aims to screen out programs that don’t serve students
How are two states—Oklahoma and Tennessee—approaching Pell reinstatement for incarcerated people?
Oklahoma Department of Corrections (ODOC) Superintendent of Schools Jeana Ely said multiple colleges have expressed interest in applying to be a prison education program.
“So we should have some new colleges that are going to be involved,” she said.
ODOC didn’t provide data on how many applications the agency has received or approved.
Instead of applying with ODOC, Connors State College in Warner extended its participation in the Second Chance Pell pilot for the next three years, said President Ron Ramming.
“There are lots of requirements for the new (program) to get full approval, and I’m not sure everybody was ready, including us,” he said. “This gave us the opportunity to continue to serve students while we were trying to put the program together.”
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Barbi Brown is director of policy and practice for the nonprofit Tennessee Higher Education in Prison Initiative. During an interview in early February, she said an application will be available soon to colleges and universities interested in starting prison education programs that would use Pell funding in Tennessee prisons.
A review panel will evaluate the applications and make recommendations to the Tennessee Department of Corrections (TDOC), which will then make the final decision to approve or reject a program.
The Tennessee Higher Education in Prison Initiative and TDOC created the application to screen out “bad actors” and low-quality programs.
“When we’re talking about bad actors,” Brown said, “we’re talking about those who may be for-profit and those who may just be completely unprepared and unknowledgeable about what higher education in prison is and could, in turn, unethically or just irresponsibly utilize Pell funding for students.”
The review panel also will evaluate applicants based on their program’s sustainability.
“What we did not want is someone to come into a facility, begin to offer classes, and then two years later, they are defunct,” Brown said, “because they didn’t have a great sustainability plan to begin with.”
Planning for a career
TDOC data shows the recidivism rate for people released from state prisons in 2019 is about 30%. People who enroll in more than one semester of college with the Tennessee Higher Education in Prison Initiative have a 15% recidivism rate, according to the nonprofit.
“Those are the numbers states can feel move them toward their economic, workforce and safety goals,” said Jessica Gibson, senior director for adult learning initiatives at the Tennessee Higher Education Commission. “When it comes to the individual, as well, having that opportunity, being able to graduate, to have a degree, to be able to be a role model for your kids and to have a new chance when you’re back in the free world is so incredibly important.”
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Since 2016, Tulsa Community College has participated in the Second Chance Pell pilot, and last year, ODOC approved the college to continue serving students at Dick Conner prison using Pell funds.
Ramona Curtis, TCC’s director for workforce programming, said leaving their unit to go to class in the education wing helps students think about the future.
“Our students have told us the education space gives them the opportunity to feel valued, validated, forward-moving and forward-thinking,” Curtis said.
Gina Jones is an instructor and academic prison operations and compliance coordinator for Connors State College. She’s watched her students’ outlooks change as they consider their plans for reentry.
“We have students talking to us about their next steps, what they’re going to do if potentially they obtain their bachelor’s degree, what they want to do when they get on the outside,” Jones said. “They’ve got somewhere to go.”
In the late 1990s, Connors State College began offering classes to students at the Eddie Warrior and Jess Dunn prisons in Taft. Ramming said since then, enrollment has depended on students’ access to funding. Federal youthful offender grants for college helped some students take a few classes.
“When that went away, it was really difficult for students who didn’t have someone back home helping them pay for classes to continue,” Ramming said.
Connors State joined the Second Chance Pell pilot in 2016, opening the door to more students.
“Watching them progress just on a personal, self-growth level is amazing,” said Jody Butler, prison education coordinator for Connors State. “You see them walk a little taller, gain confidence and gain experience in the classroom.”
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Connors State College Vice President of Academic Affairs Chris McBeath said for most faculty, driving to Taft is a lengthy commute.
“It could be 30 minutes to an hour,” he said. “Getting on and off the yard is time-consuming, and they do it anyway because they love the program and the reward that we get out of contributing to it.”
Graduates find hope—and humanity
Through Tulsa Community College’s Second Chance Pell program, Darrell Elliott earned two associate’s degrees and certificates in business computer use and horticulture while serving his sentence at Dick Conner prison.
Elliott said because he entered the prison system when he was young, he missed having a typical college experience and the chance to “discover himself.”
“When I started going to school and taking classes,” he said, “I kind of found my voice, who I am and who I want to be in the future.”
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Elliott was fascinated by his horticulture classes and the process of growing plants from seeds. He still serves as a resident intern at the greenhouse, helping new interns design garden beds and tend to plants.
“It’s really therapeutic in a sense,” he said.
He learned how to write a business plan and joined a creative writing group, where he wrote about growing up in Idabel, Oklahoma.
“I used a lot of it as a way to tell my own story and a lot of my childhood trauma that I had—all kinds of things,” Elliott said. “I was able to let it out on paper.”
When Zimmer was a TCC student at Dick Conner prison, connecting with faculty helped him stay motivated and remember what waited for him outside.
“The interactions with English teachers, it was a way to keep your humanity,” he said. “Honestly, one of the biggest parts is you are out there working toward a degree, working on grades, and it’s a really nice way to keep your mind focused and remind yourself that there is a potential to get out. It gave us something to look forward to.”
Now with about six months left on his sentence, Elliott thinks constantly about what his life after prison will look like. He hopes to earn a bachelor’s degree from the Tulsa campus of Oklahoma State University, where he wants to study sociology. It’s a plan he wouldn’t have considered without going through TCC’s program.
“It changed my whole life because it changed my perspective,” Elliott said. “Education is something that really pushes and motivates you if you allow it to. … I feel like I can do a lot of different things if I set my mind to it and if I just push through being uncomfortable.”
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Last year, Zimmer was the commencement speaker at TCC’s graduation at Dick Conner, where he urged the graduates to continue their journeys in education. Employers often aren’t receptive to hiring people with criminal records, but having a degree can help get a foot in the door.
“It gives people in a really dark place a glimmer of hope,” Zimmer said of the Pell Grant program. “That’s really important for us to remember who are not incarcerated, that we shouldn’t be in the business of just punishing and keeping down because that doesn’t help anybody reintegrate back into society.”
Contact Streetlight editor Mollie Bryant at 405-990-0988 or bryant@streetlightnews.org. Follow her reporting by joining our newsletter.
Streetlight, previously BigIfTrue.org, is a nonprofit news site based in Oklahoma City. Our mission is to report stories that envision a more equitable world and energize our readers to improve their communities. Donate to support our work here.
