Think Out Loud: PSU Brings College Classes to Oregon’s Women’s Prison

The educational opportunities for men who are incarcerated in Oregon’s prison system have been very limited. But for those incarcerated at the Coffee Creek Correctional Facility, there were no college classes offered until 2019. That’s when Portland State University associate professor Deb Arthur worked with the Department of Corrections to bring classes to the state’s only women’s prison. The Higher Education in Prison program began with a one-year, 15-credit, interdisciplinary course designed to meet PSU’s first year general education requirements. The hope is that once these students are released, they will continue taking classes and get a degree. The higher ed program has been growing with additional funding. We learn more from Arthur and from Lanelle Rowe, who took PSU college classes and is now in the process of creating a new life after her release last year