tag: Second Chance Pell
Blog Post
September 11, 2023
Building College-Community Partnerships for Reentry
New ECMC Foundation Funding to Support Higher Education After Incarceration
Higher education in prison programs are receiving significant attention in light of the restoration of Pell grants, but the provision of reentry support and continuing education post release has only recently become a focus of the field. From complex college application systems and financial aid processes to meeting basic needs, students face a range of obstacles that may prevent them from completing their degrees after incarceration. Building pathways that specifically support students in achieving their educational goals post-release will be…
Past Event
September 29, 2023
Pell 101
Information for Librarians and Those Serving People in Prison
As of July 1, 2023, people who are incarcerated are once again eligible to receive the federal Pell grant, ending an almost 30 year ban. While this represents a long sought victory for advocates working to expand access to postsecondary educational opportunities inside, the process by which Pell restoration is being implemented is complex, involving many stakeholders across Departments of Corrections, colleges and universities, accreditors, and federal agencies. People who are incarcerated will be the critical stakeholders in ensuring access…
Past Event
August 23, 2023
Education Technology in Prison Programs
Survey Finding & Building the Technology Ecosystem
Technological solutions to support and enhance correctional education have been a growing area of interest over the past several years. A series of major “shocks to the system,” such as COVID, staffing shortages, and soon, the restoration of Pell grants, has only accelerated questions about technology, its implementation, and proper role in supporting education. To help answer these questions, a session at the Correctional Education Association Conference, led by representatives from RTI and Ithaka S+R, will present recent research…
Blog Post
July 26, 2023
Disability, Accessibility, and Higher Education in Prisons
Earlier this month, the FAFSA Simplification Act restored federal Pell grant funding for students who are incarcerated in US prisons. This has driven excitement about higher education in prisons, with pieces celebrating the revised policy in Inside Higher Ed and The Chronicle of Higher Education. While this is unequivocally good news, it is important to understand that full Pell reinstatement is propelling, and arriving amidst, rapid change in higher education in prisons,…
Blog Post
May 30, 2019
Mass Incarceration, Second Chance Pell, and the State of Postsecondary Education in Prison
Last week, the US Department of Education announced an expansion of its 2015 experimental initiative that provides federal Pell Funding to eligible incarcerated students. The announcement builds off other 2019 bipartisan policy initiatives — at both the federal and state levels — that aim to increase postsecondary access for the 1.5 million of adults currently held in American prisons. Given that reentry statistics suggest more than 95 percent of incarcerated adults will eventually be released, and…
Research Report
May 30, 2019
Unbarring Access
A Landscape Review of Postsecondary Education in Prison and Its Pedagogical Supports
Postsecondary education in US prisons is a growing topic in both academic and political circles. While much of the discourse surrounding higher education more broadly focuses on students’ educational and employment outcomes, the conversation around postsecondary education in prisons often centers on the societal benefits of this programming, with a strong focus on reduced recidivism rates – the rates with which formerly incarcerated individuals engage in criminal acts that result in their re-arrest, re-conviction, or re-incarceration. With 1.5 million people…