Correctional education in Nevada is provided by the local school district in the county where the prison is located, and by the nearby community colleges. Approximately 58% of Nevada’s inmates come to prison without having completed high school. It is our goal that every inmate who leaves prison has a GED or High School Diploma. In each of our eight major prisons, Adult Education Programs offer a full curriculum and are staffed with 6 or more certified teachers and at least one administrator. All classes are taught in prison classrooms with materials and equipment provided by the school districts or volunteers.

School districts teach a range of correctional education including basic literacy for inmates who test below the 8th grade level in their academics, English as a Second Language (ESL), Life Skills, GED preparation and vocational training, in addition to the traditional high school program. Upon completion of 20½ credits and passing of proficiency exams required by the State Board of Education, inmates are issued an Adult High School Diploma. GED certificates are also issued upon successful completion of all five sections of the national exam. NDOC encourages volunteers to help students with their studies.

Inmates may also take approved correspondence or college courses if they have the funds to pay their own costs. NDOC received a federal Youthful Offender Grant in 1998 from the U.S. Department of Education to provide scholarships that pay college tuition and fees for inmates under age 25 who are leaving prison within five years. Eligible students may take up to three college classes per year and must maintain a C grade average or better. Through the grant, they may continue college classes upon their release from prison. Both male and female youthful offenders are eligible for these scholarships. Western Nevada Community College, Great Basin Community College and Community College of Southern Nevada currently offer classes in our prisons and camps. More than 83% of male inmates and 78% of female inmates come to prison with little job training or experience only in unskilled occupations. Vocational skills are taught to Nevada inmates by the school districts and colleges, prison industries (see their website at www.silverstateindustries.com), the Nevada Division of Forestry, and some programs NDOC sets up with grant funding. Currently, NDOC inmates can learn culinary skills, construction trades, animal science, fire-fighting, auto mechanics and restoration, business and management, equipment repair, HVAC installation and repair, welding, furniture manufacturing, dry cleaning, computer skills and more. Inmates may also get prison jobs as clerks, cooks, janitors, maintenance workers, landscapers, construction crews and other such positions that provide them on-the-job training. NDOC’s Education Coordinator is Marta Hall and she can be reached in our central office located at 5500 Snyder Avenue, Building 17, in Carson City or by phone at (775) 887-3237 or by email at mhall@doc.nv.gov.