Inside a renovated classroom at the Durango Juvenile Center in South Phoenix, teenagers awaiting the outcome of their cases in the criminal justice system are logging into Arizona State University coursework instead of killing time. Dozens of teens held at the facility have collectively earned hundreds of college credits through ASU since a program launched there in 2024, giving kids who once had little to work toward inside detention a genuine shot at a degree.
The numbers behind that shift are striking. As of August 2026, 60 youth detained at the Durango facility had earned college credit through ASU's Universal Learner Courses, completing 223 courses total and qualifying seven students for Earned Admission into the university, according to ASU News. As KJZZ reports, the Durango Juvenile Court Center, operated by Maricopa County Superior Court, holds teens in the criminal justice system, and it's now also become an unlikely launchpad for higher education.
One student KJZZ identified only by his first initial, S, is 17 and approaching 40 college credits while studying business administration. He told the outlet his goal is to become a Goldman Sachs executive or CEO someday. Another student, identified as E, is 16 and studies leadership with hopes of majoring in forensic science, while 15-year-old A studies business and told KJZZ that listening to reggaeton and bachata while working through math problems helps him relax and focus in school. E and classmates reportedly have access to Spotify while they study, and E said his own goal, more simply, is to turn his life around.
A Classroom Built for a Gap That Didn't Used to Exist
Before the program, teens who managed to complete a GED or high school diploma inside Maricopa County detention had nowhere further to go academically. Some ended up repeating vocational certificates, like OSHA safety training, just to have something to do, according to the same ASU News report, which cited juvenile education transition specialist Kevin Malakowsky. Few kids at the facility even finished high school before the program started, and KJZZ notes that kids there now want their diplomas more than before, since finishing one means they can almost immediately start ASU classes, per the facility's Durango Juvenile Center community and culture head.
That head, identified in KJZZ's reporting as Mark Eastin, serves as community and culture manager for Maricopa County detention. Eastin said the program injects hope into detained youth and shows them they're capable of accomplishing something. Educational services for detained minors in the county are provided through the Maricopa County Regional School District, an accommodation school district overseen by the elected Maricopa County School Superintendent, according to the Arizona Agenda.
How the Low-Risk Credit Model Works
The dedicated College Classroom at Durango officially opened on November 8, 2024, through a partnership between Maricopa County Juvenile Probation, then-County School Superintendent Steve Watson, and Arizona State University, per the Maricopa County School Superintendent's office. Under ASU's Universal Learner Courses structure, students pay just a $25 upfront fee to enroll, and only owe a $400 credit-conversion fee if they earn a C or better and choose to place the credits on an official transcript, per ASU's own program materials. Courses can be retaken without penalty if a student is unhappy with a grade, removing much of the financial risk that might otherwise keep incarcerated students from trying.
Students who complete designated courses with a minimum 2.75 GPA can qualify for ASU's Earned Admission framework, securing formal undergraduate admission without traditional high school GPA or standardized testing requirements. Maricopa County Juvenile Probation Chief Probation Officer Eric Meaux called the partnership, at its 2024 launch, a first-of-its-kind collaboration between a state university and juvenile corrections designed to inspire hope and open doors for justice-involved youth, according to the same press release.
Roots in a 2022 Tutoring Program
ASU's involvement with Maricopa County's juvenile system predates the College Classroom by two years. The university's Youth Justice Lab began sending student volunteers into Durango twice a week in 2022 to tutor detained youth in high school subjects, according to the National Association of Counties, which later expanded that tutoring model to other Arizona counties. Nancy Cervasio, deputy chief operating officer for ASU EdPlus, said in August that bringing university-level coursework into detention establishes that every student deserves the chance to earn college credit regardless of legal status, according to the ASU News report.
Research from the RAND Corporation, cited by Youth Today, found that correctional education programs reduce an individual's likelihood of reoffending by 13% and generate $5 in economic benefits for every $1 spent, evidence researchers say applies across both juvenile and adult correctional settings. For the teens at Durango, the payoff is more immediate: a transcript, a handful of credits, and, for some, a real path toward a degree once they leave. Whether that momentum carries smoothly into life after detention remains an open question, but for now, students like S, E, and A are logging in, doing the coursework, and building something they didn't have access to before.
