Second Chance Scholarship

Chef Jeff Henderson, in his white chef attire, along with TCC faculty pose with graduates at the Tulsa Community College commencement ceremony held for offenders at Dick Conner Correctional Facility. Since TCC started the Corrections Education Program in 2007, 148 offenders have completed degrees or certificates.

Tulsa Community College's Corrections Education Program held its second annual Second Chance Scholarship Dinner July 27 at the Center for Creativity on the TCC Metro Campus. More than $15,000 was raised to provide scholarships for offenders who take TCC classes. (See related article in "Tulsa World" )

TCC's program has been highly successful. In fact, TCC has assisted more than 360 students in obtaining 2,821 college credit hours resulting in graduates receiving 140 certificates of achievement and eight associate degrees. Among these offenders, nine have recently been released from prison and five are currently employed. These success stories are why TCC is committed to ensuring offenders who want to take classes are not denied due to lack of funding.

Research shows that most people who are incarcerated are from low-income families unable to help pay for college expenses. And, incarcerated offenders are not eligible for state or federal financial aid.

To date, most Second Chance Scholarship dollars have been used to fill the gap after the federal Youthful Offender Grant dollars have been exhausted. However, Congress did not renew this grant, which has been the financial base for TCC's Corrections Education Program for the past three years. The lack of funding makes the Second Chance Scholarship even more important.

For more information, call 918-595-8033.