The Department has provided vocational training since the 1870s in accordance with State law. Vocational education is an integral part of the Department's educational programming. Instruction is provided in 33 trade areas. Inmates who can read at the fifth-grade level are eligible to enroll in a vocational program. In 1996, a total of 9,873 students earned 23,396 job titles based on the United States Department of Labor's categories of occupational titles. An exploratory study of a cohort of inmates released in 1992 revealed that return rates were lower for inmates who had earned six or more vocational job titles than for others. The 36-month return rate was 32 percent for inmates who had earned 9 job titles, 39 percent for inmates who had earned 6-8 job titles, 41 percent for inmates with no job titles, and 42 percent for all inmates. In addition, offenders who had a general equivalency diploma or a high school diploma had recidivism rates that were consistently lower than inmates without GEDs or diplomas, regardless of the number of job titles earned. Tables and figure