BAKERSFIELD, Calif. — Seventeen inmates at California Correctional Institution are scheduled to receive associate degrees from Cerro Coso Community College this week.

The institution says it will host its first graduation since the program began in 2017.

Cerro Coso joined with CCI in 2017 and began offering the prison's first face-to-face college courses. As a result, enrollment grew to 740 students in face-to-face instruction this year, along with 200 inmates enrolled in distance learning.

On Thursday inmates will receive degrees in sociology, anthropology and psychology which are all transferable to four-year colleges.