The ceremony also included four armed guards, two K9s and one prison warden.

But that didn't stifle the smiles and cheers of graduates of one of Utah State Prison's high schools, South Park Academy.

"It feels good and it's a big accomplishment," said Roy Robertson, 38, who received his degree while serving time for aggravated burglary and forgery.

"It's changed him, he's not the same man he was when he got here," said Robertson's mother, Emma Robertson-Crocco. "He speaks differently now and he is a more mature man."

Robertson was among a record number of high school graduates at the prison this year, said South Park principal Lory Curtis. That's true although the school is suffering because it needs more funding.

"Even though there are more people in prison now than ever before, we're not getting a nickel more," Curtis said.

While the school's budget is approved by the legislature, it is not tied to any standard of living indexes like most Utah education funds, so it does not receive annual funding increases.

"I've had to cut some life-skills programs such as anger management, parenting classes and financial literacy classes," Curtis said.

A total of 261 students got their diplomas Wednesday, but some were unable to attend the ceremony because they had been paroled, been moved to another facility or aren't allowed to interact with other inmates based on their sentences, according to Curtis.

Curtis said the recidivism rate for South Park Academy graduates was 12 percent in 2007.

"It makes me think my staff is changing the lives of those imprisoned here in Utah for the better," Curtis said.

Janis Newton, a teacher at Draper, said students, most of whom attend daytime classes, are given regular homework assignments, but are only allowed soft-back textbooks, because they "can hide things in the hard-back ones or can use them as weapons."

Students completed the degree requirements of the Jordan School District's adult education program, including classes in math, science, social studies and the arts.

Crocco-Robertson said seeing her son finish high school was "a wonderful feeling."

"He had such a hard time because he suffered from attention deficit disorder," she said. "By the time he got to high school, he just gave up because the teachers punished him so much."