2024 was a record year for inmates in the VADOC earning GEDs; One inmate says now the sky is the limit

DILLWYN, Va. (WRIC) -- 2024 was a record-breaking year for inmates earning their General Education Development degrees (GEDs) in the Virginia Department of Corrections (VADOC).  

Maurice Harris, an inmate at Dillwyn Correctional Center, a medium-security prison, has been there since 2019 and said being able to earn his degree has been transformative. And he isn’t the only one. 

According to the VADOC, 596 inmates got their GEDs in 2024. That was up from 2023, another record year, when 430 got their degrees. There are roughly 22,000 inmates in all VADOC facilities.

Harris has been incarcerated since 1998 and was convicted of robbery and sexual assault charges. He was 17 at the time and a junior at Monacan High School in Chesterfield County, reading at a third grade level. 

It was in 2014 when he began turning his life around and the year he earned his GED.

“I’m at a college level," he can now say proudly. "I graduated with a 3.7 ... that gave more confidence in myself, like, ‘Hey, you’re not just a statistic. You could really be somebody.’ And I started believing that.”

But Harris hasn’t just earned his GED.  

He’s mastered several trade skills, including dry wall, painting, computer literacy and custodial work. This year he graduated with honors with his AA degree in general studies of science from Piedmont Virginia Community College (PVCC) through the Higher Education in Prison Program.

He remembers struggling with math, but leaned on the men in his pod who picked it up quickly. 

“I came back to the pod, and I yelled out to the pod, ‘Yo, will anybody help me on my math?’ And fortunate for me there was so many guys willing to help," he said.

He said a lot of the men in his pod have some sort of dyslexia and can relate to the challenges he faced in school.

“It touched them because they know how it felt not being able to read or not being able to write so good," Harris said. "So, they just jumped in and this right here builds a different type of relationship. It was like a bond.”  

Harris said the coursework is molded to fit the academic needs of an inmate -- if someone needs more time to study or a tutor, PVCC makes it happen.

Harris said struggling his way through the public school system led him to getting in trouble, turning to drug dealing and neighborhood gang activity. He said he felt he was just passed along in school, and is a result of the "school-to-prison-pipeline."

“I couldn’t read or write in school," he said. "So, to hide my flaws, I became the class clown or a thug, and this led me to make poor decisions.” 

He said if he could tell his past self one thing, he’d ask for help sooner and take it more seriously. With five years left of his sentence, he said it's hats off to his teachers. 

“When they realize that an inmate is really trying and is really, like, committed to getting his GED, committed to changing his life, that’s when they really roll up their sleeves... to me, sky’s the limit. There is no hold bars back. I believe I could almost do anything that my criminal record will allow me to do," he said.

Harris is the only assistant for the Workforce Development Specialist at Dillwyn, the resource center at the prison. In this role he helps facilitate anger management classes, brings inmate complaints forward, and proofreads resumes and cover letters. He’s also a peer mentor, and is getting his Peer Recovery Specialist certification.

“I lead by an example," he said. "And all of this solely became from that spark in my GED first. But it was the teachers that really believed in me that pushed me to my full potential.”   

The VADOC has GED programs in 37 of its 50 facilities. 

The Higher Education in Prison Program is offered at three facilities: Dillwyn Correctional Center, Buckingham Correctional Center and Fluvanna Correctional Center for Women. 

Harris said his support system out of prison is strong. He will be asking to be released early under the juvenile parole rule.