Resident Students Celebrate Milestone Graduation Earning Bachelor's Degrees from Brewton-Parker Christian University in Georgia

Earning a college degree is an incredible accomplishment and a moment of great pride, especially for those who have faced challenging circumstances. This summer, eight residents of CoreCivic's Wheeler Correctional Facility in Alamo, Georgia, celebrated their graduation from Brewton-Parker Christian University (BPCU), becoming the first graduates to earn a Bachelor of Business Administration through the program.

BPCU has offered courses to students at Wheeler for more than a decade. Students have the opportunity to earn either an associate degree or bachelor's degree. Classes are held in-person at the facility for three to four hours at a time, and students learn in a traditional college classroom setting through lectures, discussions and group-learning opportunities.

Roger Byrd, BPCU's director of prison education partnerships and an associate professor of social and behavioral sciences, helped launch the program at Wheeler in 2015. He said participant feedback has been overwhelmingly positive.

"What they really appreciate is the human teaching," Byrd said. "They say the three hours they're in class, they feel free. They are free to have discussions, ask questions and express opinions. It gives them a little window to the outside world."

Students can choose their own area of study, with most pursuing business-related fields such as business management and accounting. Byrd said business education is a strong fit because it helps prepare students for employment after release and gives them the tools to start their own businesses. Other popular fields include Christian studies, and BPCU is working to add programs in social services, such as counseling and psychology.

When it comes to the learning environment, professors ensure students have the same experience as those who are on campus.

"We don't designate them as correctional or former correctional students, they're just students," Byrd said. "When they get their degree, it's the same degree as anyone else's."

To date, 60 students have graduated from the BPCU program with 52 earning an associate degree and eight earning a bachelor's degree.

Research on prison education programs by the RAND Corporation found participants are 43% less likely to recidivate and have 13% higher employment rates than those who do not participate, supporting their successful reentry and strengthening public safety. Research also shows high-quality prison education programs, like the partnership with BPCU, contribute to safer correctional environments, benefiting both residents and staff.

Byrd said professors who teach in correctional facilities have seen those benefits firsthand.

"They recognize not only are these residents becoming better students, but they're better residents," Byrd shared. "The reason it works, and it works well is because of the extraordinary support from the Wheeler correctional staff, the warden, and particularly the educational staff who have been extremely supportive of the program."

The courses are funded through Pell Grants, which have paved the way for significant expansion of prison education programs across the United States. This is part of the U.S. Department of Education's ongoing efforts to increase access to federal student aid and higher education for underserved populations.

When asked why BPCU chose to start the program at Wheeler, Byrd said it came down to recognizing the need for more educational opportunities in correctional settings.

"You have people who are in a cycle they can't get out of, so we asked ourselves, 'What do we do as an institution?'" Byrd said. "We are a small school, but we have the ability to reach out and find opportunities to help people. The students understand these instructors are giving them something they wouldn't have gotten otherwise: a chance to reduce their likelihood of returning to prison when they are released."

In addition to making an impact on students' lives, Byrd says this program has had a major impact on his own.

"It has helped me believe in possibilities," he said. "Everybody makes mistakes somewhere along the way, maybe some more than others, but I have found that people are better than their worst day. For all the blessings we experience as people, this is one of the greatest for me. To see opportunity for them and know it can happen."

As of spring 2026, BPCU reported 189 incarcerated students were participating in the program across several facilities in Georgia. In addition, 23 students who were released while pursuing their education chose to continue in the program through online learning.