Eastern Oregon Correctional Institution - Education and Vocational Training

Education and Vocational Training

Blue Mountain Community College provides educational services at the prison. Between 1986 and 2009, approximately 1,000 inmates received either a General Educational Development certificate or a high school diploma through the institution’s basic educational program. In 1999, the prison expanded education opportunities through a program called the New Directions Education Project. The program offers inmates college level courses taught by instructors from Blue Mountain Community College. The cost of tuition, textbooks, and supplies are covered by donations from local churches, civic groups, foundations, and members of the public.

The prison’s creative arts program was begun in 2001. It includes wood working and cast iron work. The program provides meaningful work while inmates learn valuable job skills in a realistic work environment. This improves an inmate’s chance of getting a job and becoming a productive citizen upon release from prison. The creative arts program is self-financing, and has helped other state agencies develop similar wood working programs.

Eastern Oregon Correctional Institution’s commercial laundry cleans clothing and other items for the Snake River Correctional Institution as well as its own prison population. In addition, it provides laundry cleaning services to the Pendleton’s convention center, the city’s fire department, the local high school, and neighboring businesses. Other inmate work opportunities include the prison food service, clerical job, and facility maintenance.