ASHWAUBENON — A college degree can help you when you're applying for a job, but for people with a criminal record a degree can be a life changer.
On Wednesday at Northeast Wisconsin Technical College, a handful of inmates from Sanger B. Powers Correctional Center in Oneida helped ensure they would be able to find steady work after being released.
These eleven students just got certified in industrial maintenance, a job that pays the average graduate about $18 an hour to start. It took these students 14 weeks to complete the course and already two of the men have jobs lined up once they’re released from jail.
It's all part of a program that the department of corrections and technical colleges work on together to help ensure that low risk inmates can find quality jobs after they serve their time.
"It's a big weight off your shoulders,” said Dustin Vanderneuse, a program graduate. “I already know when I walk out of here, I got a job lined up, potentially starting on Monday and it's a great feeling knowing I’m going to have success as soon as I walk out of the door."
The student NBC 26 spoke with says once he starts his new job, he'll be making more money than he ever has in his whole life. He, like many of those men, will for the first time in their life have more than just a high school diploma.
