News

National education institute favors Pell Grants for prisoners

By MARÁ ROSE WILLIAMS

mdwilliams@kcstar.com
Education Secretary Arne Duncan, center, speaks with inmates Alphonso Coates, bottom right, and Kenard Johnson, both participants in the Goucher College Prison Education Partnership at Maryland Correctional Institution-Jessup, last Friday, in Jessup, Md. After a roundtable discussion at the prison, the Education Department announced Friday that it would conduct a limited pilot program to give prisoners access to the Pell grants, allowing them to take college courses behind bars.
Education Secretary Arne Duncan, center, speaks with inmates Alphonso Coates, bottom right, and Kenard Johnson, both participants in the Goucher College Prison Education Partnership at Maryland Correctional Institution-Jessup, last Friday, in Jessup, Md. After a roundtable discussion at the prison, the Education Department announced Friday that it would conduct a limited pilot program to give prisoners access to the Pell grants, allowing them to take college courses behind bars. Patrick Semansky AP

The Institute for Higher Education Policy on Monday praised President Barack Obama’s proposal to make Pell Grants available for non-violent prisoners to pay for a college education.

One in every 31 U.S. adults are under some form of correctional control. But the policy institute’s researchers, who recently conducted a national study on postsecondary education in state prisons, report that education for incarcerated persons would reduce the rate at which former inmates return to prison.

Federal aid for inmates hasn’t been allowed for 20 years.

“The incarcerated population consists of people in critical need of education to improve their post-release opportunities for employment and participation in civil society,” the institute says in Monday’s statement.

This story was originally published August 3, 2015 at 12:02 PM with the headline "National education institute favors Pell Grants for prisoners."

Get unlimited digital access
#ReadLocal

Try 1 month for $1

CLAIM OFFER