Education in a Federal Prison Camp

Education in the federal prison camp was mandatory, required or optional and self taught depending on your status of education.

There was a lot of educational material available, a library and BOP personnel staff assigned to education. Most of the teaching was done by the white collar crime inmates or those with an education under the supervision of BOP staff.


Inmates who did not have a high school education were automatically placed in a GED program to complete their education and mandatory a few hours every day Monday thru Friday. A word of caution if you are a high school graduate, make sure you have proof because if you do not they will put you in GED classes.

All inmates are required to complete a number of selected programs dictated by the BOP which are conducted by correctional officer who is a counselor and other personnel associated with the BOP. For example: a probation officer comes in the camp to hold a pre-release class.

There are also a schedule of classes for certificates that provide for good conduct report and cooperation. These classes consist of learning Spanish, documentaries from the history channel and hobbies like leather craft. These classes are pretty much to keep inmates occupied and make time go faster.

The optional and self taught is books available in the library, law library, and specialized training books that can be requested from a local city library. Newspapers and magazines are available to keep up with current events and volumes of law books for working on your appeal and other court cases.

Education is available and provided for your benefit, take advantage of it because the time does go quicker when you are busy.

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Posted in Education | 6 Comments
6 Comments to “Education in a Federal Prison Camp”
on 18 Feb at 4:45 am1Rick

I am wanting to complete my masters degree in counseling that can be done by CD or DVD. Is that possible or will they allow that curriculum and is there a place to watch it?
on 18 Feb at 8:19 pm2Rickey

Rick,
Great question. Yes, the chapel had equipment to watch dvd’s and listen to cd’s with headphones to not disturb others.
Getting specific courses and media will have to be cleared by the education department but the BOP highly recommends education so there should be no problems. Just let them know your plans because they will want to assist.
on 19 Feb at 2:31 am3Rick

Thanks for the quick response. I hear about buying radios from the comm. Can you get a CD player and have people send you sermons and etc… on CD to listen to?

Is there typically much room to keep books or do you end up sending them home or donating to Library? I have lots of people wanting to send books, just worried about storage issues if they send too many at once.
on 19 Feb at 5:03 am4Rickey

Rick,
Only radios were sold in the commissary and they were used to hear the TV and local stations. The only CD’s and players were kept in the chapel for all inmates to use. I would ask the chaplain if you can have sermon CD’s sent to you, they may have special arrangements.
Regarding books, I remember having about 20 or so books in my collection with still room for more but after a while I did mail some home. Lockers are roughly 36×24x18 and I was able to pack all my clothes, commissary food items, toiletries and books fairly easy but not all camps have the same type lockers.
Please remember that family and friends can only mail you paperback books. The best way to receive soft and hard cover books is to buy them from a publisher like amazon and have them mailed to you directly from the publisher (no hassle of rejection).
on 19 Feb at 2:35 pm5Rick

Thank You so much for your website and help. I’ve heard you say the not knowing is what is so painful and by helping us know more and understand more, you are bringing peace to so many of us before we go in. May God continue to bless you with your ministry.
on 19 Feb at 7:08 pm6Rickey

Rick,
You are welcome and thank you, your blessing is received with great appreciation and continues to encourage me. Please do not hesitate to ask questions, whether by comments or private message and God bless you and your family also.

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