Prison inmates seeking degrees admitted into inaugural education cohort at Utah facility

Salt Lake City, Utah – The Utah Prison Education Program at the University of Utah will accept fifteen degree-seeking inmates of the Utah State Correctional Facility.

The students want to pursue a professional and technical writing certificate in addition to a bachelor’s degree in university studies (BUS). The university’s College of Humanities offers the BUS degree.

The prisoners in the cohort will have the chance to work as mentors and tutors for other prisoners who are attending Davis Technical College or Salt Lake Community College to further their education. The University of Utah Reading Clinic will provide that chance.

The first cohort, according to associate dean and associate professor Erin Castro, is “a bold expression” of the university president’s dedication to social impact.

“Dr. Erin Castro’s dedication to UPEP over the last eight years is a shining example of scholarship with real societal impact,” Dean of the College of Education Dr. Frankie Laanan said. “Due in large part to her foundational work with UPEP, I firmly believe that Utah can become a national leader in postsecondary education in prison.”

According to the institution, Castro co-founded the program in 2016 with twelve undergraduate honors students.

“This is the first time in our university’s history that we have allowed a currently incarcerated cohort to apply to the U,” Senior Associate Vice President of Academic Affairs and Dean of Undergraduate Studies T. Chase Hagood said.

In 2025, Castro and her colleagues want to open at the University of Utah “the only national center dedicated to prison higher education research and leadership.”