Solano Community College is a California community college serving nearly 9,000 students at its campuses and centers in Fairfield, Vacaville, and Vallejo. Its thriving enrollments during the pandemic and post-pandemic recovery are a model to community colleges around the country, highlighting the importance of tailored messaging to potential students, wrap-around support services, and academic programs built in partnership with industry and community partners.
Among the College’s most impressive programs is its Rising Scholar Program, dedicated to enhancing personal development and rehabilitation through education for the students that the college serves in three California correctional facilities and the county jail.
The program is coordinated by Dr. Tony Zitko, Dean of External Programs and a former Rising Scholars faculty member. According to Dean Zitko,
“Some of our students are serving long-term or life sentences and will never actually have the privilege of entering a profession of their choice. Still others are hopeful that when they are released and able to rejoin society, they will be able to continue their education and pursue a viable career. Aside from the coarse environment of learning in a correctional facility, attaining a college education during incarceration is changing lives in immeasurable ways.”
The program, established in 2015, has grown from offering just three classes in a summer to now offering over 50 sections each semester. Originally an in-person only program due to limited classroom space at the correctional facilities, correspondence courses were added during the pandemic to ensure continuity in education. Consequently, this also allowed the college to expand its offerings. The college now offers complete educational pathways for four Associate Degrees for Transfer: Business, Political Science, Psychology, and Sociology. In 2022-23, the college awarded 28 Associate Degrees to Rising Scholar students, and these numbers will climb in the next year. This past spring, the college boasted 1,184 enrollments with more waiting to enroll, highlighting an area of significant growth for the college.
Beyond the potential for growth, the student achievement metrics for the program highlight the power of rehabilitation for incarcerated students. Solano College Rising Scholars are not just earning associate degrees, they are demonstrating academic excellence in a number of exciting ways. At the forefront of achievement is the growing number of Phi Theta Kappa (PTK) inductees, high student success rates, and an impressive overall grade point average (GPA). As of Fall 2023, 164 SCC Rising Scholars have earned induction into the prestigious Phi Theta Kappa International Honor Society. Student success rates are equally impressive, averaging 87% since Spring 2021. Indeed, student success among Rising Scholars has been higher than that of the college as a whole in every term since summer 2015. No less impressive is an aggregate GPA, which has consistently been near or above a B average.
Achievement is not only measured in a purely academic sense, though. There is the human factor of personal growth and a sense of purpose that comes with education. As one student shared:
“There are times that as inmates you don’t expect to be treated fairly, but you have taught me that the Education department [at Solano College] really cares about their students…and for that I will always be grateful” (JS, 2022).
Serving this student population helps the College achieve its goal of transforming students’ lives. One faculty member writes,
“Rising Scholars has allowed me to reach an extremely underserved and neglected population. I quickly learned that this was one of the greatest teaching decisions I could have ever made. Rising Scholars students are the most passionate learners I have ever encountered. Their desire to learn is unparalleled in my over 20 years of teaching higher education.”
Another shares that “I choose to teach in the Rising Scholars program because it gives me an opportunity to assist others in becoming better and help them assimilate in society. (I) gain a better understanding of the potential that this population holds.”
Dean Zitko agrees:
“Our Rising Scholars are finding purpose, and their lives behind bars are improving. Moreover, acquiring a college education while incarcerated is helping to make the harsh reality of prison or jail a somewhat more palatable experience. Solano College is helping to remove academic barriers for our justice-impacted students. By providing a high-quality education, this community of learners has embraced two very important ideals that are improving their lives – purpose and hope for a better future.”
To learn more about Solano Community College, visit their website at https://welcome.solano.edu/.
