Herkimer College Invited to Participate in Second Chance Pell Experiment

Herkimer County Community College is one of only four SUNY schools and 73 institutions of higher learning nationwide invited to participate in the third round of the Second Chance Pell Experiment, an initiative first launched in 2015 to expand access to Federal Pell Grants for incarcerated individuals enrolled in participating programs. To date, only 200 two and four-year colleges across the nation hold the distinction.

According to Herkimer College Associate Dean of Academic Affairs Robin Riecker, this award — along with the recent Ready for Pell grant — will allow Herkimer College’s current College in Prison Program to increase its academic offerings from one degree opportunity to three. These will now include General Studies, Psychology, and the Small Business Management certificate program at both Mohawk and Mid-State correctional facilities. Pell funding will also provide expanded academic and financial aid support services.

In March, Herkimer College announced the award of a two-year, $120,000 Ready for Pell grant through the Jobs for the Future/Ascendium Education Group initiative.

“Providing educational opportunities to incarcerated individuals is critically important as it reduces recidivism and increases employment rates after release,” Riecker said. “Nationally, more than 22,000 people have enrolled in Second Chance Pell over the past four financial-aid years, and over 7,000 have earned either an associates or bachelor’s degree or a career technical certificate.”

According to Riecker, locally, 15 incarcerated individuals have graduated from Herkimer College with another three poised to graduate in December 2022.

“While COVID shut down programming in other facilities, our students powered through almost two full years of abbreviated instruction and most are still with us,” Riecker added. “This collaboration and initiative with Hamilton College and Colgate University absolutely aligns with Herkimer College’s mission to provide quality educational programming that lives out loud our commitment to inclusivity.”

“We are thrilled to receive this distinction,” Herkimer College President Cathleen McColgin, Ph.D. shared. “To be recipients of two Pell grants and one of only 73 institutions nationwide to receive the Second Chance Pell opportunity is a testament to our faculty’s dedication and to our unwavering commitment to access and inclusion for all.”

Herkimer College has been a member of the Hamilton-Herkimer College in Prison consortium since 2017.