DECATUR, Ga.—The Laughing Gull Foundation has awarded a $210,000 grant to the Georgia State University Prison Education Project.
The three-year grant will enable faculty at Georgia State University’s Perimeter College to offer for-credit courses for incarcerated students at several prison and detention facilities. It will be used to pay for tuition, fees and supplies.
The Laughing Gull Foundation helps fund higher education in prisons across the South.
The Prison Education Project was founded in 2016 through a partnership between Perimeter College and Common Good Atlanta to educate men and women serving time in Georgia prisons. It is coordinated by Perimeter College English faculty members Dr. Katherine Perry, Dr. Andrew Rogers and Marissa McNamara. More than 20 Perimeter College faculty members volunteer their time to teach students enrichment English, history and math courses in eight prisons across the state.
For-credit English and history courses funded by the grant will begin in January 2019 at Walker State Prison, Perry said. More courses will be added in the summer and fall semesters.
“GSUPEP works to bring higher education into prisons and support reentry into society — steps that can help reduce recidivism,” said Perry. “Since this grant is for a three-year period, most of our students will have enough time to earn their associate degree and to significantly improve their lives and the lives of their communities through the change of perspective and development of the mind that a college education brings.
“We are honored to be a Laughing Gull Foundation grantee, and this money is an investment into the people of Georgia who, like everyone, want safe communities and good neighbors.”
Read more about the Georgia State University Prison Education Project.