For that reason, the department began in 1995 to retool its educational programs with an eye toward ensuring that all prisoners, with some exceptions earn a high school degree or its equivalent before parole or discharge from parole. As a result, the number of prisoners earning GEDs is increasing. More than 1,800 state prisoners earned a GED in the 1998 fiscal year. In 1998, about 30 percent of all prisoners were enrolled in an academic or vocational program. The department does not provide college programming except at prisons where it has been ordered by a court.
Prisoners are able to take correspondence courses at their own expense.