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Innovative prison program set to graduate more students with Cal State LA bachelor's degrees

By
Updated  December 5, 2024 11:53pm PST
Education
FOX 11

Inmates get chance to graduate with college degree

An innovative prison program is giving inmates a chance to graduate with a Cal State LA bachelor's degree.

The Brief

    • Thursday marks the third graduation for an innovative program for inmates called the Prison Graduation Initiative.
    • Cal State LA’s PGI began in 2016 and is the first in-person bachelor’s degree completion program for incarcerated students in California.
    • Professor Dr. Bidhan Roy, Ph.D founded the concept of giving new hope for transformation through education.

LOS ANGELES - California State University, Los Angeles will soon graduate a new class of students... from prison.

Thursday is the third graduation ever for an innovative program for inmates called the Prison Graduation Initiative.

Professor Dr. Bidhan Roy, Ph.D, founded the concept of giving new hope for transformation through education.

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Inmates with the California Department of Corrections CDC, participate in a class taught by Cal State LA professor Roy Bidham, as part of a B.A. degree program. Photos by J. Emilio Flores/Cal State LA

Interim provost, Dr. Amy Bippus, Ph.D, credits the "blood, sweat, and tears" of the faculty and notes it is the first prison Bachelor's program in the state of California."

At 48-years-old, Casi Amezcua walks the Cal State LA campus as a free man and college graduate. 

Just seven months prior, he was released from prison after serving more than two decades behind bars. 

He was sentenced to 180 years to life for murder. He blames gang life. 

Amezcua says, "I was involved in gang activity and that time I would do anything for the gang."

While at the state prison in Lancaster, he earned his Bachelor's Degree from Cal State Los Angeles. 

So did Edwin Cruz, who says "I was sentenced to die in prison. I was sentenced to never get out."

Edwin Cruz 

On Thursday, Amezcua and Cruz will return to the high security state prison in Lancaster to walk in graduation ceremonies.

They were joined for this interview by Brandon Jamal Baker. Like Cruz, he was released from prison just weeks ago.

All three got a second chance at freedom under a Youth Offender Parole program. All three served more than twenty years for their crimes.

Baker got his AA degree while incarcerated and due to the Prison Graduation Initiative he will now start on his CSULA degree.

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Dr. Roy purchased him a new Cal State LA sweatshirt for the start of the new semester in January.

Roy says it costs $100,000 a year to house an inmate. He's hoping the higher education program will help them integrate back into society and contribute to their communities and as taxpayers. 

The Source: This story was reported with information from the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, and interviews with Casi Amezcua, Edwin Cruz, Brandon Jamal Baker, Professor Dr. Bidhan Roy, and Interim provost, Amy Bippus.

Education