First Degree
Nationwide, over half of released inmates are rearrested within five years, but one college behind bars seeks to change this statistic. FIRST DEGREE takes viewers inside the infamous Sing Sing maximum security prison and offers a unique window into their college degree program that helps prevent released inmates from returning. Watch the full film streaming on Chasing the Dream Facebook June 18 at 10:30PM.
NARRATOR: Nationwide, over half of released inmates return to prison within five years.
Can an educational program at Sing Sing beat those odds?
JERMAINE ARCHER, INMATE: I left high school with a criminal record.
And I'm leaving Sing Sing with a college degree.
NARRATOR: First Degree with John Fugelsang.
[Instrumental music in background]
The untold story of Black Americans in pursuit of higher education in the North when Southern graduate schools were white-only.
This selection of features and shorts illuminates critical formations of schooling and learning from various global perspectives.
%%excerpt%% Black Americans today remain at the center of conversations around how to expand access to the American Dream and are looking for solutions to new challenges in education.