The first college-level courses were offered in 1953 in the Illinois correctional system through Southern Illinois University. From this beginning, college-level course offerings in prisons have grown to include 90,000 inmates at 218 adult correctional institutions. Despite their growth, these college-level programs have seldom been evaluated, and educators have not considered the needs and limitations of ex-offenders as students in colleges and universities, where many ex-offenders might apply after having their aspirations raised in prison courses. As part of a solution, a 15-week program was developed at John Jay College to allow a limited number of inmates to attend classes as day students, returning to the correctional facility at night. This familiarity with college life was meant to reduce inmates' feelings of anxiety at the time of their release. Additional support systems were counseling by former releases and participation in Linkers, a club of student ex-offenders. The pilot program for hard core ex-offenders consisted of orientation, counseling, and advising.