The Harris County Sheriff’s Office (HCSO), in collaboration with the Houston Community College (HCC) System, provides vocational and academic training programs for inmates in the county jail.

Some 30 full time classes and 12 part time classes offer opportunities to approximately 9,000 inmates each year. The curriculum includes English as a second language (ESL) and General Educational Development (GED), auto mechanic, culinary arts, consumer electronics, welding, etc.

The Inmate Education Program at the Harris County Jail was established to comply with the Texas Commission on Jail Standards to afford all inmates a chance to obtain some form of education to prepare them for life after they are released and decrease recidivism.