COLUMBUS — While students across Ohio are headed back to school, the Ohio Central School System is busy celebrating achievements among incarcerated students.

The Ohio Central School System (OCSS) serves as the school system for the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction (ODRC), providing incarcerated men and women with educational opportunities in the form of high school equivalency certifications, college degree programs, apprenticeship programs, career-technical education and more.

Last year, OCSS piloted the first cross-institution virtual Google Classroom between the Correctional Reception Center and London Correctional Institution, bringing modern learning to Ohio’s incarcerated population. Google Classroom is now in eight prisons, and more are expected to be online by the end of the year.

Ohio is one of only a few states that provides college opportunities at all its institutions. Recently, the maximum-security Southern Ohio Correctional Facility in Lucasville celebrated its first associate’s degree earned by an incarcerated person at the facility.

“In Ohio, we believe education is not a privilege but a rehabilitative necessity,” says ODRC Director Annette Chambers-Smith. “We release 18,000 men and women from our prisons each year, and we are preparing them with the skills and tools they need to be successful and become the workforce Ohio needs.”

In fiscal year 2024, OCSS served thousands of incarcerated students.

790 students earned high school equivalency certifications.

1,420 students earned career technical education certifications.

754 students earned apprenticeship certifications.

3,154 students earned college certifications or degrees.

2,722 students earned industry recognized credentials