Business students offer advice, hope to prison inmates

Business students offer advice, hope to prison inmates

In an attempt to provide an opportunity to apply what they have learned in classroom-based or online courses to the real world, some business schools are sending their students to prison.

BusinessWeek reports that colleges such as Texas A and M and Emory University have launched programs that enable their students to offer business advice, job skills training tutoring services to local prison inmates.

Career services officers and business school administrators told the media outlet that many students have taken an interest in helping convicted felons ease the transition into civilian life by helping them find jobs or launch their own business ventures after they are released.

While some students are participating in non-profit efforts such as the Houston-based Prison Entrepreneurship Program, others - such as those from Emory's Goizueta Business School - have launched their own initiatives. A group of students from the college have been spending their free time helping inmates prepare for the high school diploma equivalency test and organizing a career day to connect these individuals with prospective employers.

The Prison Entrepreneurship Program received the 2009 TeamMBA Award from the Graduate Management Admission Council, according to the organization's website.