Prison college programs

College programs like it were once far more common, and today advocates are hopeful the political winds have shifted enough to bring public dollars back to prison education. For the time being, Cal State has made its program work, mostly on private grants.

Once a month, Taffany Lim makes the mile drive from LA to the maximum security state prison in Lancaster, a concrete island in the high desert. Lim helped create the B. They call her Miss Taffany and treat her with a sort of saintly reverence. Here, men serving long, often life, sentences put on theatre productions, play music, train service dogs and embrace self improvement. In the heyday of correctional education in the U.

Kay Hutchison of Texas told Congress in Without that source of funding, programs began to crumble. Within a decade, the number of prisoners in college classes dropped by half , according to a study by the Rand Corporation.

Most are community colleges. California has become a national leader in prison education since , when state lawmakers opened the door for community colleges to begin teaching inside. Justice Studies Certificate. Notice: JavaScript is required for this content. All had their life sentences commuted by Gov. Edmund G. Brown Jr.

And there is persuasive evidence that the higher your level of education, the lower your likelihood of returning to criminal activity or incarceration. And yet, there are severe limits on educational access for both inmates and ex-offenders.

For more than 2. To learn how inmates and ex-offenders can improve their chances of earning a college degree, read on:.

Prison Education can fit under a wide range of categories, from basic literacy and vocational training to rehabilitation, physical education, and the arts. Prison education also includes programs that allow, or even require, prisoners to pursue a GED or high school equivalency, as well as programs that create access to college courses, either onsite or through mailed correspondence.

The vast majority of prison education programs are conducted onsite at both state and federal prison facilities. Educational opportunities for inmates and ex-offenders produce clear and demonstrable value by creating access to practical training and academic degrees. This post-secondary education can translate into future employment opportunities, heightened earning potential, and reducing tendencies toward recidivism.

Inmates who earn a GED high school diploma equivalency are less likely to relapse into criminal behavior and incarceration. Even less likely to relapse are those who earn a college degree. This is because education and degree attainment can help mitigate some of the sociological drivers of criminal behavior and incarceration, including economic disadvantage and racial inequality.

The benefits of effective prison education also extend beyond individual inmates and ex-offenders. Lower levels of recidivism lead to safer neighborhoods, more vibrant communities, and a reduction of the burden that our enormous prison system imposes on U. Nonetheless, access to higher education remains inconsistent at best, and obstructed by severe limitations at worst. Prison education opportunities can vary from state to state, and from one type of facility to another.

In most contexts though, inmates must work within strict parameters. To earn an academic degree while serving a prison sentence, one must manage education responsibilities while adhering to considerable limits on freedom, movement, and access. Most federal and state inmates lack regular internet access, which makes it difficult to attend online courses or earn a degree from an online college. These limitations are further compounded by the high cost of college, the declining rate of public moneys allotted for post-secondary education in prison, and the high hurdle that inmates and ex-offenders must clear to receive student aid.

In spite of these limitations, prisoners at both the federal and state levels do have access to a high school education. In fact, at both the federal level and in most state prison systems, participation in some form of GED education is mandatory. Post-secondary opportunities are less pervasive, but can take the form of both vocational certifications and academic degrees.

With that said, some states have shown leadership in producing academic opportunities for inmates. Indeed, while access and affordability remain obstacles, those state prison systems that do create greater opportunities for educational attainment are seeing positive results. The resources below are designed to highlight the benefits of earning a college degree while in prison or after release, as well as identify some of the best ways that we can support both incarcerated persons and ex-offenders as they work toward a better future.

The best measure for the value of education in prison is criminal recidivism. Recidivism is a permeating problem in the criminal justice system. A recent study by the Bureau of Justice Statistics revealed that a staggering While there are few antidotes to the complex cross-section of factors that make individuals more susceptible to criminal behavior and incarceration, access to education has proven as powerful a remedy as any.