Northwestern University, ranked as the ninth-best college or university in the country, maintains a 7 percent acceptance rate, making it one of the most competitive institutions to gain admission to.

Students accepted into this prestigious university typically achieve SAT scores of 1500 and above.

Now, 16 incarcerated persons from the Illinois Department of Corrections have made history and can count themselves among the elite graduates from the school after their commencement this month.

In partnership with Oakton College, Northwestern University successfully launched its Prison Education Program, making it the first top-10 university to provide a bachelor’s degree program to incarcerated students.

The cohort began in 2018 with students selected from the Statesville Correctional Center, a multi-security prison in Crest Hill, Illinois, who wanted to work toward their associate degrees.

In December 2021, Northwestern University stepped up and said it would allow those students to continue matriculation through their program to pursue a bachelor’s. Over a dozen students were enrolled in a full-time course load throughout all four quarters of each academic year and earned a Bachelor of Science degree with a major in social sciences.

Jennifer Lackey, founding director of NPEP and the Wayne and Elizabeth Jones professor of philosophy and law at Northwestern, said it changed her life as an educator.

“It is often said that education is transformative, and I believe this even more wholeheartedly with each passing day in our community,” she said in a statement. “But I have also been powerfully moved by the way you all have transformed education. You have radically expanded what it means to be a Northwestern student. You have enriched Northwestern University in ways that will echo for decades to come.”

Ta-Nehisi Coates, the National Book Award winner and journalist, said it was a high honor to be the Nov. 15 graduation’s keynote speaker.

“When I got the invitation to come here to address you, wild horses couldn’t stop me because I’m addressing myself. This is a tremendous achievement you guys have done,” he said to the audience of about 300 guests.

Later, the Howard University professor was asked by ABC News what it meant for him to speak to the class, and he said, “I was deeply, deeply inspired.”

“I teach kids who struggle to get to class in the morning,” he continued, “to see these guys struggling with what they had to struggle with and managed to get you know an education from a prestigious university, it’s a big deal.”

One of the most inspirational stories was from Bernard McKinley, a man recently paroled after spending 22 years behind bars.

He said, “As I prepare to reenter society in a few months, this is one of the most memorable moments that I’m going to be proud to write in my story.”

Another part of this story for McKinley is taking the LSAT and applying to law school. He hopes with his life as an example, he will help break the cycle that keeps Black and Brown bodies on track to prison, believing education is the key.

“When you send young Black and Brown bodies to prison, uneducated,” he explained, “And then throw them back into society uneducated it does nothing but perpetuate systemic racism.”

This is something that the Department of Justice knows to be true.

According to a Justice Department study, around 68 percent of state prison inmates are rearrested within three years of release. However, education can significantly change this outcome. A 2018 study in the Journal of Experimental Criminology revealed that prisoners participating in post-secondary education programs are 48 percent less likely to be re-incarcerated compared with those who don’t go to school.

Additionally, obtaining education during incarceration enhances the likelihood of securing employment after release by 12 percent.