Hello everyone! Guess what?? My sweetie got placed in Southern Michigan Correctional Facility and I finally was able to see him! Yay!! I am so happy! We finally were able to say I love you, too (neither one of us wanted to say it in a letter and we were both anticipating it!)! Lol, I am so happy! :)

I have a question, though. Does anyone know of any colleges that offer text-based correspondence courses for Business Administration? I'm having a hard time finding anything that doesn't involve the internet and Garold isn't allowed to go on the internet because there are too many sexual offenders in his prison. He reeeeaaally wants to get his degree so any information would be helpful.

Well, just wanted to share the good news with everyone! Hope you all had a happy holiday!

I am so happy for you!

To my knowledge none of the prisons in Michigan let the guys on the internet and none let them do correspondance courses it doesn't matter what the offense. If you find somewhere they can do a CORRESPONDANCE COURSE OR WORK TOWARDS A DEGREE PLEASE let us know.

Deb

Dear Deb,

Justin is currently discussing this with his case manager. In fact, she is the one that suggested he may want to do a correspondence course. We would have to pay for it though, but Justin said that he could because he already has a high school diploma????? I will keep you all posted on the progress......

Imagine, a correctional facility that is discouraging someone from doing better for themselves, I think that is horrible...... I say let them make some productive use of their time.

Hugs,

Jodi

I'm so happy for you. I don't know the answer to your question but I'm sure someone will come along who will. Good luck and happy new year.

Thanks everyone! :) Things are a lot better now that I can visit Garold. He's supposed to talk to someone in the prison about correspondence too. He doesn't have a high school diploma but as far as I know he said they will allow him to do correspondence courses after he gets his GED which won't take long. Thanks for all your help and happiness! :) Smiles!

So Happy for You both and I truly wish you the best!!!!Keep us posted!

I am so happy for you. I can just "
feel" your joy. :):)

THATS WONDERFUL NEWS!!!

The last I knew there are no courses available at this time..
those were all cut out due to budget restraints. Please post some information if that has changed, my hubby is only 9 credit hours short of his Bachelors degree in Behavior Science. I'd LOVE to see him finish it before he comes home!!!

Mrs. D

Yes, they may take correspondence courses, as long as YOU pay for them! Not only does it keep the guys busy and help them prepare for jobs after release, but it also looks good for parole. Despite this, it's openly discouraged. But don't let that stop you.

I'm pretty sure the nature of the offense has nothing to do with approval for taking a class. The only time a prisoner gets turned down, that I've heard of, is if he's in ad seg or p.c. or if he asks to take a class in locksmithing or building guns or something like that. :D

I think the process is the same in most Michigan prisons. The prisoner kites the prison's school principal for an MDOC application-to-take-classes form. It asks for the name of the class, the name of the required textbooks, the price, the address of the college, the name of a contact person there, etc. The form is then turned in to the prison's school principal, along with the college's own registration application, plus an application for a check to be written to the college from the prisoner's funds. (The money must ALREADY be in the prisoner's account before he applies.) After the principal receives these three forms, he/she may request more information or paperwork or might just approve it. If it's approved, the prisoner is notified but the paperwork is sent on to the accounting office, where a check is issued and sent, with the registration form, to the college.

No internet or videotapes allowed even at the level one prisons, that I know of. Note that if a proctor is required for the tests, the prisoner has to find a minister/teacher/etc. from the outside who's willing to come into the prison. That name has to be put on the application form. The prison won't provide supervision for testing.

I've done a lot of research on which colleges are reputable/accredited and offer low tuition rates and are willing to work with prisoners. The book "Prisoners' Guerrilla Handbook to Correspondence Courses" was very helpful. I narrowed the choices down to Ohio U (has an AWESOME program designed specifically for prisoners, plus a correspondence bachelor's degree), Indiana U (also has a Bachelor's degree totally through correspondence), Taylor U (has an associate's), and Global U, and sent the info on those to my boyfriend to pick from. Those are accredited, have Michigan prisoners enrolled, and have prisoner discounts. Global U actually offers some high-academic-quality, non-credit courses for free to prisoners. Most of the degree programs are general liberal arts majors that let you tailor a focus from your own electives. It's probably going to be hard to find a business degree that doesn't require computer access.

Mrs. D., if you have a hard time getting a college to accept your husband's credits (most colleges want you to do the majority of your degree with them if they're going to be giving you the diploma), you might want to look into Thomas Edison State U or Charter Oak State College. They're good at credit banking. After that, there are plenty of universities out there that offer master's degrees through correspondence as well!

For the most part, even though there are a lot of hoops to jump through, the prison principals and the colleges I talked to were very friendly and helpful.

I'd be happy to answer any questions. Hopefully I can save someone else the work I put into figuring this all out. :) If any of you come up with different or additional information, I'd love to hear about your experiences.

And congrats, Andie! I know visits make a world of difference.