How do I find and enroll in a correspondence program?
If you’re currently incarcerated:
If you are interested in taking a correspondence course while you are incarcerated, your facility’s education department should be able to provide information and guidance.[2891]
Two great resources for researching correspondence programs from inside are:
- Prisoners’ Guerrilla Handbook to Correspondence Programs in the United States and Canada by Jon Marc Taylor. This is a comprehensive guide to correspondence courses available to incarcerated people, providing detailed program overviews and contact information. At the time of this publication, the handbook is in its 3rd edition, published in 2009 (ISBN: 978-0981938509). Check your facility’s library or education department. It is also available from http://www.amazon.com and Barnes & Noble (both are CDCR approved vendors). You can also write to the publisher for information on ordering the book: Biddle Publishing Company and Audenreed Press, P.B.M. 103, Box 1305, Brunswick, ME 04011.
- Prison Education Guide by Christopher Zoukis and edited by Susan Schwartzkopf (through Prison Legal News Publishing). This is a comprehensive guide to correspondence programs for prisoners that It includes a detailed analysis of the quality, cost, and course offerings of all college correspondence programs available to prisoners. The publication costs $49.95, and will be available beginning March 1, 2016 (taking pre-orders now online at https://www.prisonlegalnews.org/store/products/prison-education-guide/). It is also available from http://www.amazon.com (a CDCR-approved vendor). You can also write to the publisher for information on ordering the book: Prison Legal news Publishing, P.O. Box 1151, 1013 Lucerne Ave., Lake Worth, FL 33460.
- Also, see Appendix D, PG. 898 for a list of schools that have a history of successfully offering correspondence courses to incarcerated individuals (working within correctional facility restrictions).
Helpful HintStudent Responsibilities for Correspondence Courses
If you enroll in a correspondence course while you are incarcerated, you will be responsible for getting all of the required textbooks and materials yourself. You may also be responsible for finding a “proctor” at your institution to administer any midterm or final exams. A proctor is someone who watches over you while you take your exam to make sure that you are the one actually taking the exam, and that you do not cheat.
If you’re formerly incarcerated:
- See Appendix D, PG. 898 for a list of schools known to offer correspondence courses;
- Check your local public library for information on schools that offer correspondence courses;
- Visit your local America’s Job Centers of California and ask about correspondence programs.
NOTE: Once you have returned to the community, you will have access to more resources, including the Internet, than when you were incarcerated. We recommend that you take advantage of interactive Distance Education programs or traditional face-to-face programs, as these tend to offer a richer and more integrated educational experience than correspondence courses.
Helpful HintPaying for Correspondence Course
You may be eligible to receive financial aid to pay for your correspondence study, but it depends on the school you are taking courses through. Because of federal regulations, schools that offer primarily correspondence courses are not eligible to participate in federal financial aid programs. If more than 50% of the courses the institution offers are correspondence courses, or more than 50% of the students enrolled are taking correspondence courses, then the school is not eligible for federal financial aid. Additionally, a school is not eligible if more than 25% of its students are incarcerated.[2892] (For more information on financial aid, see Paying For Your Education, PG. 881.)