Surrounded by security, barbed wire and watchtowers in the distance, an unassuming building at the California Institution for Men (CIM), a state prison in Chino, promises incarcerated men an opportunity at a diploma — and a second chance at life.

It’s here, in brand new classrooms and refurbished tutoring spaces, where 66 men will join the first cohort of students at Cal State L.A.’s newest learning campus for incarcerated men, located within the Chino prison.

The program, starting in fall, is through Cal State L.A.’s nearly decade-old Prison Graduation Initiative (PGI), an in-person classroom-based prison education program that offers inmates a chance at a college degree.

At a May 27 ribbon-cutting ceremony, attendees — including incoming students — watched in excitement as officials unveiled the new CIM College Campus. The newly renovated space, a reconstructed building located in the prison faciility, includes three new classrooms equipped with laptops, WiFi, and large electronic displays for learning.

After two years of construction, the building serves as a stark contrast to the typical nondescript prison exterior.

“I’m extremely happy for us to have this here because it extends us an opportunity to further our education,” said student Eric Jones in a news release. “Something that we at Chino thought we’d never have the opportunity to do.”

Established in 2016, proponents say the two-year program — a partnership with the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) — helps reduce recidivism, bring post-prison opportunities and engagement for incarcerated people, and works towards safe rehabilitation and reentry.

As part of the CDCR’s efforts for post-secondary education, the PGI through Cal State L.A. offers students opportunities to enroll in college and earn a degree from partnering community colleges, private non-profit schools, the CSU or University of California schools.

Its first cohort started in 2016 at the California State Prison, Los Angeles County in Lancaster, and has since served close to 120 students, with 50 receiving their Bachelor of Arts in Communication while incarcerated, and around 15 going on to parole, transfer and complete their degree at Cal State L.A. Some parolees have gone on to pursue their master’s degrees, officials said.

Studies show that incarcerated individuals who participate in correctional education are 48% less likely to return to prison within three years, than those who did not have access to those opportunities, according to RAND and the CDCR.

This inaugural PGI cohort is expected to graduate in spring 2027. The men are working towards their Bachelor of Arts in Liberal Studies degrees, awarded through Cal State L.A.

Officials said the new campus opening marks the largest cohort of admitted students to date.

“We at Cal State LA are in the business of transforming lives through higher education,” said Cal State L.A. President Berenecea Eanes at the opening.

The bachelor’s degree program was also brought to the California Institution for Women in Corona in 2022. Officials said 36 students from that program will graduate in spring, with a ceremony planned for September. Another institution opening is planned to continue growing PGI, according to program director Bidhan Roy.

Roy called the opportunity “transformation through higher education.”

It’s about providing incarcerated people with “space to reflect on their lives, make internal transformations, and “learn practical career skills (all needed) to succeed if they reenter society,” he said.

PGI admission standards include approval from the CDCR and completing general education requirements, which officials said can be obtained while incarcerated through distance learning community college programs.

Some students at the California Institution for Men transferred to the Chino prison to participate in the new PGI program, officials said.

Tyierre Perry, who is joining the first PGI cohort in the Chino prison, said he was thankful for the opportunity to further his education. He said it feels like an opportunity to “challenge what is possible”  for incarcerated people, especially those from complex or troubled backgrounds.

“Knowing how much I took from the community,” he said, this feels “special, and I’m thankful.”

Getting a bachelor’s degree gives Perry the “confidence to go and show others that despite what we’ve done, we can do better,” he said. “We can be better.”

Perry, who attended the campus opening, echoed concerns of other incarcerated students, saying that the new, quiet study space is important for students with learning disabilities.

Officials said students will have around six hours of weekly classroom study time, which may change depending on need.

For many incoming students, it’s a second chance at life, by way of education, and a way to give back to communities. Many said they wanted to gain personal and career-oriented skills to help others with stories like theirs — and some even said if they could, they would come back to mentor other inmates.

They hoped to use their education to make a positive impact on the community and atone for their crimes.

Jose Bello, who is also part of he first cohort, emphasized how transformative correctional educational opportunities are.

”At one point I didn’t have no direction, but education has played a big role in my life while I’ve been in prison,” Bello said. “Education has helped me, has given me that sense of purpose.”

Incarcerated people who had “any type of programming credit” had lower conviction rates than those without enhanced education credit, according to the CDCR’s most recent recidivism report, released in April.

With proven significantly lower recidivism, officials saw the need to continue education programs that help incarcerated people and formerly incarcerated graduates. In early 2024, Cal State L.A. received a $900,000 grant from the Department of Justice to establish a “Prison to Careers” employment program to help graduates find work, building on the Prison Bachelor’s Graduation Initiative.

Many PGI students are the first in their families to earn degrees, highlighting systemic issues that have historically contributed to incarceration — such as poverty, lack of education, and over-policing in communities of color, according to reports.

Jesse Barbosa, a Latino man, will be the first in his family to obtain a degree through the PGI in the fall. He was one of many who had to learn to type and use basic technology ahead of the program’s fall start.

“I had struggled because I was always fighting my dad’s negative words,” Barbosa said. “I think I self-sabotaged a lot of my education growing up because of it.”

That inner saboteur is still loud, despite Barbosa’s personal accomplishments. He thanked the professors who encouraged him to continue his education in PGI, and hopes that, if paroled, he could use his degree to help teach others.

“I’m still afraid of failing, but it’s something that I’m learning to keep challenging. I can do better. I do have the potential,” he said.

Learning as a second chance 

At a PGI Convening event in April, part of Second Chance Month, PGI graduates, recently paroled students and alumni came together to share experiences, find  career development resources and services including behavioral health and tattoo removals.

Deon Whitmore, who graduated in 2021, was part of the second cohort of the PGI program while incarcerated at the Lancaster prison. He spoke to attendees and alumni about his release and being able to continue his education at Cal State L.A., where he is currently pursuing his master’s degree in public health.

Though Whitmore hopes to be an example for others, he recognizes there’s “still a long way to go” when it comes to correctional education for both men and women. He currently works with the PGI program to increase career opportunities for paroled students.

“Oftentimes, when you come home from being released, you can only get minimum wage jobs, not a career path,” Whitmore, 39, said. “PGI is carving out a lane for us who want to use our education.”

PGI graduate Allen Burnett shared his story of finding a second chance through his degree and using learned skills to give back to others. At age 18, Burnett was arrested for aiding and abetting in a first-degree felony murder and was sentenced to life without parole.

After serving time at the Lancaster prison for 28 years, his sentence was commuted by Gov. Gavin Newsom in 2019, allowing Burnett to be released and continue his education with PGI. He was able to earn both a bachelor’s and master’s degree in communications.

After his release, Burnett helped establish The Prism Way, a nonprofit dedicated to fostering compassionate support for all those who have been impacted by the justice system.”

“At the core of it, The Prism Way and all programs that we’re running have been influenced by the PGI program,” he said. “When I was in Lancaster, the initiative fought for people with life on parole to be allowed to learn and obtain their degree and now some of us have trickled out and continue this work.”

The nonprofit offers resources for current and formerly incarcerated individuals, including a reentry program in downtown Los Angeles, weekly “gang members anonymous” classes, peer support training programs, and a post-incarceration support group.

Burnett said that PGI graduates in his nonprofit have gone on to meet with minors at the Youth Guidance Center and the Youth Leadership Academy, a juvenile hall in Orange County, to talk to them about education opportunities and life post-prison.

“I was in that facility when I was a kid. Providing programming there means so much to me,” Burnett said.

“It brings joy to my heart,” he added. “It shows that (the PGI officials) were right; I did have potential, and some of the things that I never thought about myself — that I could do something positive with my life — were true.”

In spite of the stigmas and challenges many formerly incarcerated people face when it comes to pursuing an education, many said they felt “renewed” to be known for more than just their sentence or their crimes.

“For survivors of crime, I know this kind of program may be hard for them to wrap their head around, if their loved one may not have an opportunity,” Burnett said. “I believe that everybody needs to be held responsible for their actions and going to school is a part of the rehabilitation process. It allows people to get to a place where they can take full responsibility for the harm that they cause, for accountability to be held.”