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Second Chance College Program

A brief History

On June 26, 2016, the University of Baltimore (UBalt) was selected to participate in the U.S. Department of Education’s Second Chance Pell Grant Experimental Sites Initiative. UBalt was among 67 other colleges/universities selected nationwide to offer a post-secondary correctional education program through federal Pell Grant funding. The objective is to provide post-secondary education to incarcerated students prior to release, therefore reducing likelihood of recidivism, and improving outcomes for educational and employment success.

UBalt’s program is being offered at Jessup Correctional Institution (JCI), a maximum-security prison for men. As of the spring 2021 semester we have 48 students who will study toward a Bachelor of Arts in Human Services Administration degree. While taking courses at JCI students receive academic support from UBalt faculty and staff, community volunteers, and their incarcerated peers. 

 

Through higher education and reentry support students are able to have a positive impact on their own lives, their families, and the Baltimore community. The Second Chance College Program works with students when they are released to continue their education on campus and find meaningful and sustainable employment. When released, students are also provided with reentry support services, tuition assistance, and receive mentoring from their peers who are successfully continuing their education on campus.   

The Second Chance College Program director is Andrea Cantora, associate professor in the School of Criminal Justice.

 

Second Chance College
Program Fact Sheet

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Video Decoration
A graduate in a graduate's cap and stole poses, smiling, in front of a statue of Edgar Allan Poe.
James Ruffin III, B.A. '21, was the first student to graduate from The University of Baltimore's Second Chance College Program. The experience, he says, changed his life and opened his eyes to the value of a second chance.

UBalt LAP building

In the News

Alumni Stories

Thomas Anderson poses while sitting down during an interview

THOMAS ANDERSON, B.A. '23

Thomas Anderson grew up on the fringes, torn between his devoutly religious mother’s home and Baltimore’s seemingly irresistible streets. When it came time to choose a side, he chose the latter and in return earned a life sentence in prison. 

In time, while serving time, Thomas would find a second chance at a new beginning. And it would lead him the Second Chance College Program and eventually graduation at age 55. 

“To know of all those years that my mother cried because of the bad things that I've done, for me to be able to walk across the stage and look up at my mother and see the tears in her eyes, I know it’s because of something that I did well,” he said.
Donte Hayes poses in his cap, gown and stole on his commencement day.

DONTE HAYES, B.A. '24

Before dressing in his cap and gown for commencement, Donte Hayes returned to Edmondson Avenue for one last look at the home where he grew up. It’s vacant now and slated for demolition, but he could imagine the history there, from fonder memories of his mother inside, to the harder ones on the street corner where he nearly derailed his future. 

His graduation from The University of Baltimore on May 2024 with a B.A. in Human Services Administration is an academic achievement he never thought he would reach. Standing outside his old home, he realized he was also graduating from a past life it took him too long to leave behind. 

“If I just taken education seriously early on, then I would be grateful at 20 years old, the way that I’m grateful now at 43, for even having it.”

Second Chance Program Faculty and Staff

 

Andrea Cantora is an associate professor in The University of Baltimore's School of Criminal Justice. Her primary research interests are focused on issues related to incarceration, prison reentry, and urban crime prevention. Since 2002, Cantora has conducted research in prisons, jails and community correction settings in New Jersey, New York and Maryland. Cantora previously worked as a research associate at John Jay’s Research and Evaluation Center, and the Vera Institute of Justice’s Center on Sentencing and Corrections. Her work has been published in the  Journal of Offender Rehabilitation,  the  Journal of Qualitative Criminal Justice and Criminology,   Criminal Justice Studies  and  American Journal of Criminal Justice.

Prior to joining The University of Baltimore, Denelle Alton served as an academic advisor at Howard Community College, and as an admissions and student services officer at Johns Hopkins University. She has experience in admissions, academic advising, program planning and student retention. Denelle has an M.S. in Counseling from Johns Hopkins University and a B.S. in Communications from Bowie State University.

Latonya L. Epps has served as the reentry coordinator for the Second Chance Program since 2017. She is a proud alumna of The University of Baltimore where she earned her B.S. in Criminal Justice in 2016. Latonya obtained her M.S.W. from Morgan State University in 2021. Working with the men in the reentry program and learning more about their backgrounds and families has helped Latonya understand how mental health and generational traumas impact their lives and those around them. Latonya plans to use that knowledge and the skills she has to advocate for and incorporate mental health awareness into the reentry portion of the program.

  • M. Kate Demarest
  • Daniel A. Gerlowski
  • Al Gourrier
  • Patricia Hall
  • Nicole Hudgins
  • Tiffaney S. Parkman
  • Ian Power
  • Frank R. van Vliet
  • Aaron Wachhaus