SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (KELO) — A new location of Southeast Technical College will open on at the South Dakota State Penitentiary in Sioux Falls.
The South Dakota Board of Technical Education Thursday approved a recommendation from an academic committee to add the location.
A 20-page explanation of the proposal said the location at the prison would continue an already successful partnership aimed at providing skills to inmates pending release. Those inmates can then enter a high-demand job.
Inmates at the prison have already been taking welding classes at Southeast. The on-site location means inmates will take classes at the prison. But as Southeast students, they will still have access to services students at the main campus would, according to the 20-page explanation of the program and location.
Southeast had 15 prison students enrolled in the welding certificate program in August 2022. Through this spring, 57 prison students have entered the program and 49 have graduated. The 20-page explanation said 31 students, excluding 11 who graduated this past spring, are working in the welding field in the community.
As Southeast students, they will still have access to services students at the main campus would, according to the explanation of the program and location.
Students at the prison location will have access to academic counseling, peer support groups, mental health services, financial aid geared toward justice-impacted students and other services.
The prison location plan would also include an expansion of course offerings. The explanation refers to bus, truck mechanics and diesel engines. It says the state penitentiary has a current facility that meets the standards for teaching a diesel program. The explanation outlines courses and credits for diesel technology in the trucking industry.
Other information refers to expanding programming at the Southeast prison location to possibly electrician, plumbing, horticulture, auto mechanics and construction management. This would be part of the plan for the planned new prison in Lincoln County.
Southeast said in the plan that it expects to have the prison location receive accreditation by the summer of 2025 with the first class starting in that fall.
