After three years of planning and almost a year of instruction, students in the first Riverland Community College cosmetology class at the Federal Correctional Institute (FCI) in Waseca are nearing the home stretch.

By mid-November, 12 inmates should have the training, skills and qualifications to work as a licensed cosmetologist in Minnesota. The inaugural class began instruction in September 2014 after coordinating the requirements of Riverland, FCI, Waseca, Minnesota State Colleges and Universities system, Minnesota State Board of Cosmetology and the Federal Bureau of Prisons. By January 2015, students moved into a renovated prison space replicating a cosmetology salon.

“These inmates will have completed 1,550 hours of cosmetology training in a licensed school and passed a state board written test and the Certification of Skills test to become licensed,” Vicki Lunning, Riverland’s customized training and education representative, said in a press release. “Studies have shown that training helps keep inmates from returning to prison and improves future job prospects.”

Cosmetology is the art and science of beauty care and is regulated by the Board of Barber and Cosmetology Examiners. The FCI, Waseca program mirrors the cosmetology program offered at Riverland’s Austin Campus. The 60-credit diploma program covers all aspects of hair, skin and nail care. Minnesota statutes and rules, laws, chemistry, anatomy, trichology, dermatology and safety/sanitation are key elements of this program. Students also take retailing, business fundamentals and workplace human relations classes.

According to a report from RAND Corporation, a nonprofit research organization, prison inmates who receive general education and vocational training are significantly less likely to return to prison after release and are more likely to find employment than peers who do not receive such opportunities.

The report also suggests that prison education programs are cost effective, with a $1 investment in prison education reducing incarceration costs by $4 to $5 during the first three years post-release. An abstract of the report can be found at www.rand.org.

The FCI Waseca is a low-security United States federal prison for female offenders in Minnesota. It is operated by the Federal Bureau of Prisons, a division of the United States Department of Justice. The facility can house a population up to 950 inmates.