Along with New Jersey and California, Utah is among a growing number of states that are implementing postsecondary programming for incarcerated youth. Utah’s Higher Education for Incarcerated Youth program even goes beyond what’s offered to incarcerated adults in Utah: Most adults in Utah prisons do not have access to free college-level courses.
At any point during the year, an average of 74 youth are incarcerated across Utah’s five long-term facilities. The average length of stay is about nine months. Thus far, students in those college-level courses have earned about 539 credits in English, criminal justice, biology, political science, philosophy, art, economics and finance, and music,