CCCU Participates in 2025 Second Chance Month

WASHINGTON, D.C.—The Council for Christian Colleges & Universities is proud to partner with Prison Fellowship for the eighth consecutive year to celebrate and honor Second Chance Month in April. This movement raises awareness about the legal barriers facing the millions of Americans who have a criminal record, limiting their access to transformative opportunities including education, jobs and housing. The CCCU proudly recognizes 16 of our member institutions who are providing incarcerated individuals with a second chance through redemptive prison education programs. 

“It is such an encouragement to witness how Christ-centered colleges and universities can provide incarcerated individuals with a ‘second chance’ in the form of education,” said Dr. David Hoag, president of the CCCU. “These life-shaping experiences not only offer new opportunities and shift the culture in prisons, but they also pave the way for life-saving spiritual journeys.” 

Fulfilling Christ’s call to visit the imprisoned from Matthew 25:36, Christian colleges and universities throughout the U.S. and in Canada serve the incarcerated in diverse ways. For example, Hannibal-LaGrange University in Missouri provides theological education for long-term inmates in a maximum-security prison, seeking to equip and send out inmates who will be able to serve as field ministers in prisons throughout the state. Meanwhile, the Lipscomb Initiative for Education (LIFE) program at Lipscomb University offers several different degrees, while also providing post-release assistance through the Richard C. Goode Scholarship to help students continue their education beyond their release from prison. 

Christian colleges and universities bring one essential, unifying dynamic to their prison education programs: an education shaped by faith in Jesus Christ. These prison education programs not only offer academic opportunities for incarcerated individuals, but they also share the redemptive story of the gospel, which can transform lives behind bars. 

“This Christian liberal arts education helped me mature into a responsible man, but it also held pragmatic value as our intern team interacted with the community with care, compassion and love rather than indifference, division and hate,” shared one student participating in the prison education program offered through Oklahoma Baptist University. “In less than one year, our team led over 300 men in the maximum yard to know Jesus. Those men decided it was time to live life differently. Now, imagine what could happen if every prison facility in America had Christian liberal arts education program similar to the Prison Divinity Program.”  

More than 1.8 million Americans are currently incarcerated, according to statistics from Prison Fellowship, and the rate of recidivism is high: two-thirds of those who are released will be rearrested within three years. This system costs over $80 billion per year, and the cycle of crime and incarceration also takes a heavy toll on individuals, families and communities. Within this context, prison education is more important than ever, as it carries hope, new opportunities and the possibility of transformation to prison facilities throughout the country.   

In honor of Second Chance Month, Prison Fellowship has launched a campaign on X to spread the word about the importance of second chances. To get involved, tag @prisonfellowship and @JusticeReform and use the hashtags #UnlockSecondChances and #SecondChanceMonth.  

All media inquiries should be directed to Dr. Amanda Staggenborg, vice president of communications, at astaggenborg@cccu.org. 

About the CCCU 

The Council for Christian Colleges & Universities is a higher education association of more than 170 Christian institutions around the world. Since 1976, the CCCU has served as the leading voice of Christian higher education. With campuses across the globe, including more than 130 in the U.S. and Canada and more than 30 from an additional 18 countries, CCCU institutions are accredited, comprehensive colleges and universities whose missions are Christ-centered and rooted in the historic Christian faith. Most also have curricula rooted in the arts and sciences. The CCCU’s mission is to advance the cause of Christ-centered higher education and to help our institutions transform lives by faithfully relating scholarship and service to biblical truth. 

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