GA SR839

Commends the Georgia Department of Corrections (GDC) and nonprofit Common Good Atlanta (CGA) for 15 years of collaboration offering accredited college courses inside four state prisons, providing more than 5,000 hours of instruction since 2008

More than 500 incarcerated people have completed college courses through the program, with a documented recidivism rate of just 0.5 percent among participants

Notes that more than 46,000 people are incarcerated in Georgia, fewer than 1 percent hold a college degree at sentencing, and more than 98 percent will eventually be released back into communities

Hundreds of professors and students from institutions including Emory University, Georgia Tech, Morehouse College, Spelman College, University of Georgia, and others have participated in the program

Directs the Secretary of the Senate to distribute copies of the resolution to the public and press