St. Louis University program in Missouri prison helps set minds free.

An educational program allows Missouri inmates to earn degrees in various areas of study, according to St. Louis Today. In 2008, St. Louis University (SLU) came to the Eastern Reception and Diagnostic Correctional Center (ERDCC) in Bonne Terre, Mo., with a program that would allow inmates to earn an associate's degree in arts or a certificate in theology studies. When the initial certificate was offered, the application window closed after five days--more than 300 inmates applied for the 15 open slots. SLU selected inmates without life sentences and those who are tutored or held leadership positions in prison.

While the program is still in its early stages, prison officials are hopeful that the program will prove to be successful in giving inmates opportunities when they are released from prison. "We are moving slowly to get the momentum so we can spread it everywhere, all over the eastern region," said Jason Lewis, deputy warden of ERDCC. The program, free to inmates, is supported by SLU, a $150,000 grant from the Hearst Foundation and other donations. SLU has also organized a speaker series at the prison and brought in best-selling authors, jazz musicians and poets.

Stephen Casmier. an SLU professor who teaches at ERDCC, says that teaching inmates has been the most enjoyable experience of his career. The inmates are often more dedicated than students at SLU's main campus, according to Casmier. and have fewer distractions. "Although we are in prison, we don't have to act like we are in prison," said Courtney Everett, an inmate who was accepted into the program. "It keeps my mind out there, and in the mentality I need it to be when I return to society."

After dropping nearly four percent in 2011, Connecticut's prison population dipped below 17,000 inmates in early January 2012 after hitting an 11-year-low in early December 2011, according to the state's Criminal Justice Policy and Planning Division,