The Bureau of Prisons offers eligible inmates the opportunity under its occupational education programs to participate in occupational education courses for the purpose of obtaining marketable skills designed to enhance post-release employment opportunities.

(a) Eligibility. All inmates are eligible to participate in an institution's occupational education program. An eligible inmate must apply through the inmate's unit team for placement consideration. The unit team will determine whether the occupational education course is appropriate for the inmate's apparent needs.

(b) Special considerations for inmates under orders of deportation, exclusion, or removal: (1) Generally, inmates under orders of deportation, exclusion, or removal may participate in an institution's occupational education program if Bureau resources permit after meeting the needs of other eligible inmates.

(2) Inmates under orders of deportation, exclusion, or removal who the Attorney General has determined cannot be removed from the United States because the designated country of removal will not accept the inmate's return are exempted from the limitation in paragraph (b)(1) of this section, and may participate in an institution's occupational education in the same manner as other eligible inmates.

Occupational education programs are offered at the certificate level and the classroom level. Each level may include the following types of training:

(a) Exploratory Training. Exploratory training is a study of occupations and industries for the purpose of providing the student with a general knowledge of the occupation and the world of work, rather than specific skill development.

(b) Marketable Training. Marketable training provides specific entry-level or advanced job skills. Marketable training may include “live work”, that is, the training would result in a product or service produced by the inmate for actual use by the institution, FPI, another federal agency, or community service project.

(c) Apprentice Training. Apprentice training provides an inmate the opportunity to participate in training which prepares the inmate for employment in various trades through structured apprenticeship programs approved at the state and national levels by the Bureau of Apprenticeship and Training, U.S. Department of Labor.