Facts, figures about Prison Entrepreneurship Program teaching Texas inmates business skills

The Houston-based Prison Entrepreneurship Program began operations in 2004 and operates now in the Cleveland Correctional Facility in Cleveland, Texas, with plans to open a second unit in a Dallas-area prison this year. Some facts and figures about the program since it began:

— Number of graduates: More than 1,100

— Number of classes: 22, with as many as 150 inmates currently in each class

— Number businesses launched by inmates: 165

— Number of businesses grossing more than $1 million: at least two

— Recidivism rate: Less than 7 percent, compared with a rate of 23 percent overall for Texas prisons

— Budget: $2 million

— State funding: none. PEP is funded entirely on private donations.

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Source: Prison Entrepreneurship Program — http://www.pep.org