Updated Research Brief

on Prison Education
May 8, 2019

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 Objectives
• Provide an updated summary of the current dialogue and an overview of the prison higher education
landscape.

• Analyze what elements of the research and media landscape have changed since our first prison
education research brief in March 2018.

• Identify potential areas of opportunity for Lumina Executive Team and Strategy Directors.

• Following Lumina’s review of the brief, develop points of view and compile proof points that can
serve as launching pads for Medium blog posts, op-eds and other thought leadership opportunities.

Overview
The past year has brought rapid and sweeping change in the prison higher education landscape — from
the most significant federal legislation on prison reform in nearly a decade to softening public perceptions
around criminal justice policy. These shifts have helped catalyze meaningful progress. States have
prioritized funding prison education, more higher education institutions have embraced partnerships to
provide postsecondary education for those who are incarcerated, and corporations have elevated their
action and rhetoric around giving ex-offenders a second chance. All the while, criminal justice reform
has created strange bedfellows of allies, from celebrities such as Kim Kardashian West to politicians at
radically different ends of the ideological spectrum.

In this updated brief, synthesized from prominent media coverage and research on prison education
from March 16, 2018 to April 21, 2019, we outline the positive and swift momentum that has built around
prison education since our initial brief, while also spotlighting the new challenges that have emerged as a
result. We close with a recap of ongoing barriers identified in our first brief and call attention to promising
solutions for addressing them. An outline of our approach follows:

»»  Positive Momentum for Prison Education

»»  Emerging Challenges
»»  Ongoing Barriers

Positive Momentum for Prison Education

»»Largest Federal Policy Change in a Decade
In President Trump’s 2018 State of the Union speech, he announced the First Step Act, the first major
piece of criminal justice legislation in a decade and a significant change from the 2010 Fair Sentencing
Act. President Trump emphasized that the new legislation gives nonviolent offenders the opportunity to

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reenter society as productive, law-abiding citizens, highlighting that “America is a nation that believes in
redemption.”

This legislation, which received notable support from both sides of the aisle, provides incarcerated
persons with rehabilitative programs, fair sentencing, smart confinement and the possibility of early
release. Its evolution involved a number of unusual advocates and rare bipartisan support, including
from Jared Kushner, Van Jones, Kim Kardashian West, Democratic Rep. Hakeem Jeffries of New
York and Republican Rep. Doug Collins of Georgia. The diversity of the advocates for the First Step Act
legislation received extensive media coverage and played a vital part in advancing the legislation.

According to a fact sheet from The White House, since the enactment of the First Step Act, 721
defendants have received sentence reductions, 573 of which have resulted in incarcerated persons
being released. More avenues were expanded for eligible elderly and terminally ill incarcerated persons
to get their sentences reduced, including authorization for eligible low-risk and elderly incarcerated
persons to be transferred to home confinement when possible. And the Bureau of Prisons was advised
to house incarcerated persons within 500 miles of their homes when possible.  

The Trump Administration also is aiming to further reduce recidivism rates by budgeting more than $500
million for federal programs that aim to prepare incarcerated persons for life after prison. This includes
$234 million for the Department of Justice to support reentry programs, incarcerated person education
and occupational training programs, and $78 million for the Department of Labor to improve employment
outcomes for formerly incarcerated adults and young adults.

One supporter of the initiative, Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY), said, “The Passage of the First Step Act is
a victory for all Americans who believe in justice and the power of redemption. This bill will transform lives
by providing access to the mental health counseling, education, vocational services and substance abuse
treatment needed to help incarcerated individuals get back on their feet and become productive members
of society. The First Step Act is not the end. It’s not even the beginning of the end. It’s simply the end
of the beginning on a journey undertaken to eradicate our mass incarceration epidemic in America. Rep.
Collins should be commended for his tremendous leadership in this critical effort.”

PUSHBACK TO FIRST STEP

The Trump Administration, frequently criticized for its racialized language around “tough on crime”
policies, has created an interesting political dynamic with the First Step Act, which is largely seen as
a progressive action in criminal justice reform. While Democrats were largely supportive of the First
Step Act, the heated political climate and increased polarization between the two parties made many
Democrats uncomfortable with fully endorsing the legislation. This led prominent Democrats to grapple

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 with the prospect of giving the opposition party a political victory and created division around whether the
First Step legislation was expansive enough.

In fact, progressives and 2020 presidential hopefuls, eager to bolster their prominence in the prison
reform policy space, have offered proposals to take the First Step Act even further. Republicans also
were far from unified in their support of this First Step Act. Notable conservative hardliner Sen. Tom
Cotton (R-AR) and libertarian Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT) exchanged dueling pieces in the National Review
over the issue.

In addition to the political challenges, there also are substantive ones. While the First Step Act facilitates
meaningful change and has garnered support in communities of color, observers have begun to
question the sincerity and commitment of the Trump Administration. This is in part because Trump’s
budget for fiscal year 2020 called for only $14 million in funding for First Step programs, far short
of the $75 million prescribed in the bill’s text. This budget discrepancy has called into question the
Administration’s commitment to this initiative, even though the President cites his achievements in the
space frequently. Additionally, delays in programmatic implementation have fueled concerns over the
legislation’s efficacy.

The conversation on social media about the First Step Act largely reflects the broader media discussion.
Everyday Americans and topic experts on the left—particularly those far left on the political spectrum—are
critical of the legislation’s limited scope, and harbor deep reservations around the Trump Administration’s
commitment to the issue. Those on the right are excited to tout the President’s accomplishments in the
criminal justice space. Most of the discussion is accounted for by a general audience; however, news
organizations, politicians and political organizations are present in the discourse as well.

»»Expansions in State Funding

In the first prison education brief, our research highlighted that state funding varies widely across the U.S.
Today, funding has evolved as states increasingly realize the transformative benefits prison education can
have on current or previously incarcerated persons, and, in turn, on the economy and well being of a state.
Within the past year, several states have invested in programs that provide incarcerated persons with
opportunities to prepare for life after they leave prison.

Michigan has seen increasing success with its Vocational Village initiative, established in 2015.
According to Heidi E. Washington, director of the Michigan Department of Corrections, over 480
incarcerated persons have gone through the program and been released. Of that group, only five have
ended up back behind bars or are in the process of a behavior violation. Although the program launched in

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2015, a second village is in development, and a third village at a correctional facility for women is expected
to open by the end of 2019.

Florida also is working on ways to make more educational opportunities available to incarcerated
persons. In April 2018, Governor Rick Scott signed a law designed to help better prepare incarcerated
persons for the job market. It allows incarcerated persons with 24 months or less left in their sentence
to participate in the Postsecondary Workforce Education program, which provides access to vocational
training and postsecondary education from career certification programs to apprenticeships. This
represents a shift in state policy, since up until the passing of this legislation, Florida law prohibited state
funds from going towards the education of incarcerated persons.

New Jersey has made strides to get legislation passed to receive state-funded grants for its higher
education program, in addition to the federal money the state receives. The New Jersey Scholarship and
Transformative Education in Prisons Consortium, or NJ-STEP, has become the state’s flagship program,
serving incarcerated persons through a partnership between the Department of Corrections, State Parole
Board and a number of colleges. The program has received private funding from the Vera Institute of
Justice, The Ford Foundation and the Sunshine Lady Foundation, among others. While there was initial
momentum to secure additional state funds for the program in this year’s legislative session, the bill did
not advance.  

“I’m excited about the fact that when you have a person’s body locked
up, you must find ways of touching their minds and their hearts so that
they don’t go back out and recidivate. You must give them opportunity to
increase, enhance, obtain an education as well as job skills and training.”

– Sen. Darryl Rouson (D-St. Petersburg)

In August 2018, Connecticut received approval for a continuance of the state’s Second Chance Pell Grant
through at least 2020. Connecticut State Colleges and Universities (CSCU) President Mark E. Ojakian
has been a strong advocate for an extension of the program, highlighting that the program allowed 962
students to take college classes and 61 students to earn certificates or degrees in just two years. While
the extension of the program was received favorably, the unpredictability of the extension beyond 2020 is
a point of continued concern.

“This pilot is giving people a second chance to break the cycle of

incarceration, to rejoin our communities, and to build a new life for
themselves and their families. We need to find a permanent solution in
the next reauthorization of the Higher Education Act so that students and
families know this resource will be available for them from year to year.”

– Mark E. Ojakian, President, Connecticut State Colleges and

Universities (CSCU)

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»»Growing Private Sector Support
A number of corporations, including GTL, Bank of America and AT&T, are increasingly focused on ways to
help lower recidivism rates and integrate formerly incarcerated persons back into society. Either through
financial commitments or verbal pledges, corporations today are more vocal about re-entry and education
in prisons.

GTL, a tech provider that provides payment solutions for the government and edtech for prisons, is a
company leading the charge in providing incarcerated persons with the technology needed to develop
skills. By using tablets, GTL is able to bring learning and structure to correctional facilities, which is critical
as this kind of structure can help bring stability to the corrections environment. In turn, this produces
an incarcerated person population that is more tranquil, less anxious and less aggressive, notes GTL.
Additionally, this sort of program allows incarcerated persons to take on responsibility, such as submitting
requests and filing electronic grievances, and allows facilities to focus on operational efficiencies instead
of paper forms.

Bank of America is also playing a part in prison initiatives by granting $500,000 to Unlocked Futures,
an accelerator for formerly incarcerated entrepreneurs. The initiative received attention as John Legend
is a founder of the program and has been outspoken about its potential to support incarcerated persons.
The company aims to see businesses playing a part in breaking down barriers for formerly incarcerated
persons—and, in turn, decreasing recidivism rates.

Not only are companies leveraging their financial support for prison education initiatives; executives are
also joining the cause in a new call to action and hiring commitments. Randall Stephenson of AT&T has
become a strong voice for hiring and supporting formerly incarcerated persons. In April 2019, he
stood alongside Dallas megachurch pastor T.D. Jakes and encouraged other business leaders to be part
of the solution. “If we truly are going to be a society who wants to ensure that we don’t just have this
revolving door to our prison system, then you’ve got to step up,” Stephenson said. “You’ve got to be part
of the solution.”

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Many people of faith, policy leaders and the like shared this story on Twitter. Although many shares did
not include commentary, some shared their support of the new initiative and expressed how proud they
were of Pastor T.D. Jakes.

Consumers have responded enthusiastically to John Legend’s involvement with Unlocked Futures,
especially on social media. Much of the social media chatter exists in the responses section on John
Legend’s Twitter feed, responding to posts he has published on Unlocked Futures and Bank of America’s
involvement. However, the positive feedback often fails to note the Bank of America financial investment.

In addition to corporate support, there’s been a rise in philanthropic funding to help meet the need
for prison education. A number of foundations across the country have stepped in to support prison
education programs. Both the Laughing Gull Foundation and The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation seek
to improve student resources and access for incarcerated students, proving to be strong examples of the
role foundations can play in the prison higher education space. Lumina Foundation has also introduced
strategic investment plans to help improve the quality of prison education programs and support
opportunities for incarcerated persons re-entering society to earn college degrees or other postsecondary
credentials.

In 2015, The Laughing Gull Foundation launched its support for higher education in prison by providing
22 organizations with over $3.6 million in grants. At its inception, the program focused on increasing
access to credit-bearing college courses for incarcerated students, especially in the southern part of the
U.S. Some of Laughing Gull’s current grantees include: The Alabama Prison Arts + Education Program
(APAEP), The Alliance for Higher Education in Prison’s (AHEP), College & Community Fellowship
(CCF), Education Justice Project (EJP), Exchange for Change and The Freedom Education Project of
Puget Sound (FEPPS).

In addition to a selection of grantees, Laughing Gull Foundation also funds numerous projects, including
helping the Stetson Community Education Project expand classes and offer college credits for
incarcerated men in Tomoka Correctional Institution. Laughing Gull also supported the University of
Illinois Education Justice Project with a grant to help pay for course materials for incarcerated students,
as well as reentry guides for people returning home from prison. The foundation also provided Southside

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 Virginia Community College a Higher Education in Prison Grant to support the College’s Campus Within
Walls Program. The program provides incarcerated students the tools they need to successfully re-enter
society and become productive citizens.

The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation has funded several prison education programs focused on bringing
college education to incarcerated individuals, including NYU’s Prison Education Program and the Cornell
Prison Education Program (CPEP). Since 2012, 64 individuals have earned associate degrees through
CPEP at three New York correctional facilities: Auburn, Cayuga and Five Points.

With the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation’s support, the program is increasing the number of courses
offered and has enhanced programming and curricular engagement for Cornell student contributors.

As this program continues to expand and be studied, Cornell aims to have it become a model at both the
state and national level for introducing education in prisons.

Additionally, the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation has been a strong supporter of the Education Justice
Project, a prison education program that has supported more than 220 incarcerated people with classes
through the University of Illinois since 2009. While participants can’t earn a bachelor’s degree through the
program, they do have the opportunity to transfer the credits they receive in the program toward a degree
at a college or university once they’re released.

»»Increased Higher Education Partnerships and Programs

Many colleges and universities are increasing their involvement in prison higher education and taking
the charge to build partnerships and institute programs that will support currently incarcerated and/
or previously incarcerated persons. For example, the Tennessee Higher Education Initiative, founded
in 2012, is working to shape the way prison education is offered by funding and coordinating onsite,

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degree-bearing college programs to incarcerated individuals throughout Tennessee prisons. This provides
incarcerated persons access to associate degrees in business administration and political science.

Across the country, a number of other programs have stepped in to introduce such programs. Wesleyan’s
Prison Education Program welcomed its first cohort of 24 graduates in July 2018. The graduation
was much-celebrated on social media, with some posts saying the event gave off a “redemptive type
of energy.” The MIT Educational Justice Institute announced in September 2018 that it will lead a
consortium to support expanding access to postsecondary education for incarcerated persons statewide,
an initiative that was made possible through funding from the Vera Institute of Justice and the Andrew
W. Mellon Foundation. In October 2018, Northwestern University launched a prison education
program that would offer for-credit college courses at Stateville Correctional Center.

In November 2018, Georgetown University launched an Inmate Re-Entry and Education Program,
which is a fellowship created for formerly incarcerated individuals. Through this one-year transition and
re-entry program, participants receive a non-credit-bearing certificate in business and entrepreneurship
while earned in their education and helping to secure employment. In the same month, the Missouri
Department of Corrections announced they will be offering a higher education opportunity for staff
members and offenders through a partnership with Ashland University of Ohio. For offenders, the
tablet-based program will enable Second Chance Pell Grant-eligible offenders to pursue an associate or
bachelor’s degree program remotely, at no cost to the offenders or the department. The funding would
come from federal dollars that had already been allocated for Second-Chance Pell Grant-eligible offenders.

In February 2019, Idaho’s Correctional Institution-Orofino partnered with the University of Idaho to
bring both incarcerated and University students together in the correctional facility to help each group
reach their higher educational goal. Ithaca College will also be offering a two-year credit-bearing course
program at Elmira Correctional Facility in spring 2019 as part of a partnership with Cornell University’s
Prison Education Program.

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»»Uptick in Public Sentiment
Polling data shows that Americans across the political spectrum are supportive of criminal justice
reform, with more than two-thirds of Republicans, Democrats and Independents favoring legislative
action in the space. These changing public attitudes about criminal justice policy have also been fueled by
new reports of violent and overcrowded prison conditions.

Outrage over widespread, unacceptable levels of violence have garnered media attention—as the
DOJ released data linking overcrowded and understaffed prisons to deteriorating safety standards. High
levels of violence in prisons and generally unsafe conditions create environments that are antithetical
to ideal learning spaces, and are adding to the difficulties of education in a non-traditional environment.
In response to these abysmal conditions, incarcerated persons have organized to protest. An integral
component of their demands is increased access to educational programs.

The new momentum from the public has led some states to take meaningful action to improve the
lives of the formerly incarcerated. During the 2018 elections in Florida, voters passed Amendment 4—
automatically restoring voting rights to more than a million former incarcerated persons. Additionally,
presidential candidate Bernie Sanders has argued that the expansion of voting rights should be taken
even further, calling for voting rights for the currently incarcerated. While this idea remains relatively
fringe, it demonstrates a meaningful shift in what is acceptable, ideologically and rhetorically, in the
criminal justice reform debate writ large.

While traditional media coverage of Florida’s 4th Amendment was largely positive, many right- leaning
individuals on social media weighed in, arguing the measure provides improper incentives for criminals.
However, most social media posts reflected the shift in public opinion towards favoring a less punitive
criminal justice system. Additionally, even progressives—including presidential candidates Senator
Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Senator Kamala Harris (D-CA) and South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg—have
been skeptical of Bernie Sanders’ proposal to allow incarcerated persons to vote, regardless the level
of their sentence or conviction. Presidential hopefuls Beto O-Rourke, former Texas representative, and
Julián Castro, former San Antonio Mayor, have signaled they are open to granting incarcerated persons
convicted of nonviolent crimes that right to vote. A variety of media outlets and individuals shared
content relating to these contentious issues.

The negative stigma around giving ex-offenders a second chance also is changing rapidly among higher
education institutions and employers. According to an article from Washington Monthly, some colleges
and universities struggling with building up their enrollment rates are considering a new avenue for
revenue—recruiting previously incarcerated persons. This shift in enrollment has led colleges and
universities to evaluate their current standards, realizing that to stay afloat they must turn to potential
students—such as formerly incarcerated persons—that were previously ignored.

Businesses are also beginning to find that hiring previously incarcerated persons could prove a wise
financial decision. According to a report from the Trone Private Sector and Education Advisory Council,
by excluding formerly incarcerated persons from the job market, the gross national product misses out
on between $78 billion and $87 billion. To survey the sentiments of employers about hiring formerly
incarcerated persons, the Society of Human Resources Management (SHRM) commissioned a study of
employers and found that most employers were ready for the shift. Only 14 percent of human-resources
managers noted that they wouldn’t consider hiring a formerly incarcerated person.

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Perhaps the most significant finding was that 82 percent of employers said that their formerly
incarcerated hires, in the same role as their previous hires, have been just as successful. This is
compatible with a 2018 RAND study, which found that 59 percent of employers would consider a
formerly incarcerated person with one conviction if they were given an incentive through a tax credit,
which they are offered under federal law. Yet, despite this progress, the SRHM survey found that only five
percent of employers are actively hiring.

In Indianapolis, a recent story from the Indianapolis Business Journal detailed how businesses are
increasingly turning to formerly incarcerated persons to fill much-needed positions in a tight labor market.
So far, Indianapolis-based Public Advocates in Community Re-Entry (PACE), a re-entry non-profit, has
helped 120 formerly incarcerated persons find open good-paying jobs upon release.

Social media views of everyday Americans and workplace advocates are congruent with current shifts in
the stigmas around previously incarcerated and currently incarcerated persons, as the public support for
prison education and post-incarceration employment continues to grow.

“Simply put, the cost of education and rehabilitation programs is far

less than the cost of imprisoning inmates. While these initiatives mean
investing in inmates, giving inmates the knowledge and tools to become
motivated members of society in their lives outside of a correctional
facility’s walls pays back several times over. It’s a situation that benefits
everyone and an investment worth making.”

– Dr. Turner Nashe, Jr., Senior Vice President of Education Services at GTL

BAN THE BOX GAINS STEAM

As public sentiment around ex-offenders softens, the Ban the Box movement, which aims to remove the
conviction history question from job applications and delay background checks until later in the hiring
process, has gained momentum. According to the National Employment Law Project, 34 states, the
District of Columbia, and over 150 cities and counties have adopted a ban-the-box or fair-chance policy. In

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 addition, research from Case Western Reserve University found that removing the criminal history box
from job applications increased employment rates in high-crime U.S. neighborhoods by up to four percent.

Educational institutions are also Banning the Box, after the Common Application announced it would
stop asking questions about an applicant’s criminal history. Following the announcement, criminal justice
advocates took to social media to express their support, as many were enthusiastic to see their efforts
translate into tangible results. The change will take effect on the Common Application starting this year.

At the state level, in July 2018, South Carolina passed a bill that expanded the state’s current
expungement law, which will allow individuals to more easily remove criminal convictions from their
records. Meanwhile, Colorado Reps. Leslie Herod and Jovan Melton filled a bill to restrict how and when
public-and private-sector employers can inquire about applicants’ criminal histories. The bill submission
cleared the state legislature on April 12, 2019 and moved to the governor’s desk for the final signature
needed to make “Ban the Box” state law. If the bill receives the final signature, Colorado would be the
12th state with this policy.

To see the broad growth of efforts to limit job discrimination against formerly incarcerated persons, the
“Ban the Box Historical Timeline” outlines all the state and federal initiatives from 2003 to 2015 that
have been accomplished because of the movement. Addressing wins such as California Governor Jerry
Brown signing AB 218, the Fair Chance Act sponsored by former California State Assembly member
Roger Dickinson (D-Sacramento), which requires all state agencies, cities, counties, and special districts
to Ban the Box on their public employment applications.    

»»Growing Access to Technology

Today, there is greater access to technology—both for personal and academic use—among the prison
population, eliminating what used to be a significant barrier.

A 2015 U.S. Department of Education “Educational Technology in Corrections Report” shared that
a growing number of corrections agencies, facilities and education partners were exploring ways to
securely and cost-effectively increase access to technology for incarcerated persons. While research on
the effects—behavioral, emotional, educational and otherwise—of technology in prison is scant, there is a
clear interest among prisons in experimenting how technology can improve education programs and help
incarcerated persons make a smoother transition back into society.

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Tablet-based curricula continue to receive media attention—and generate controversy—in the prison
education space. For example, a prison in South Carolina has seen great success with tablets and
improved technology more broadly throughout their facility. Prison officials described tablets as an avenue
for improving learning environments while also reducing illegal cell phone use, which can decrease gang-
related violence and other criminal operations.

Companies like Edovo have expanded their efforts to customize prison education programs around the
dual objectives of reducing recidivism and improving employment prospects, with the firm claiming “that
more than 100,000 individuals have completed over 340,000 vocational skills courses and viewed
more than 1 million hours of educational content on its platform to date.”

Frontier technologies, like virtual reality, are also being experimented in prisons, with the hopes they can
improve both rehabilitative and educational outcomes for incarcerated students. Programs in Colorado,
for example, are working with Nsena VR to prepare inmates for the social and emotional challenges of
re-entry.

“An offender can be transported anywhere, including a family living room,

a grocery store or the workplace. An offender can practice simple tasks
like doing laundry to difficult social skills such as dealing with family or job
conflicts. The impact of 360-degree immersion is powerful in a way that
other education and training platforms lack.”

– Melissa Smith, education program administrator, Colorado

Department of Corrections

Yet, as these technologies grow in popularity, there remains a lack of data around whether they can
reduce recidivism and enhance the education and skill development of their incarcerated users. Edovo, for
example, admits they can’t yet quantify their products’ effect on recidivism or educational outcomes. The
same is true for every other edtech startup we’ve researched.

There are also concerns—highlighted in last year’s brief—that remain over price gouging, inadequate
quality, and monopolization among prison education technology pioneers. Consider that while
companies like JPay and Global Tel Link are providing thousands of “free” tablets to incarcerated persons,
they also charge very high fees to access the tablets’ services. In some cases, inmates must pay over
four dollars to transfer twenty dollars from outside the prison, 35 cents for sending an e-mail and 18
dollars an hour to talk on the phone.

The outlook on increased access to technology in prisons is therefore mixed. On the one hand,
technology-focused skills continue to be a requirement for competing in today’s workforce, so it’s more
crucial than ever that incarcerated and formerly incarcerated persons gain skills in modern technologies.
And there is optimism that edtech startups are improving prison conditions and increasing access to
education for those currently incarcerated.

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 But on the other hand, the current business model of these startups is at least ostensibly exploitative,
and it’s uncertain whether these products are having an overall positive effect on reentry outcomes. To
inform meaningful benchmarks for evaluating these technologies going forward, research in this space
should investigate whether in-prison education programs that rely on technological tools endow their
graduates with high-quality credentials.

Emerging Challenges
»»Inequity in Program Access & Outcomes
Women’s incarceration has seen rapid growth recently, which, when coupled with the understanding
that women’s prisons often lack any education or vocational programs, has created a new focus on
inequity in prison higher education. States like Texas overwhelmingly fail to support incarcerated women,
creating an alarming dichotomy between increasing incarceration rates and stagnant numbers of
programs.

According to a January 2018 report, by the Prison Policy Initiative, since 1978, the number of women
in state prisons nationwide has grown 834 percent over nearly 40 years, nine times the size of the
1978 population. But as incarceration for women continues to increase, the availability of programs for
education and skill development has failed to keep up, as noted by the Prison Policy Initiative in a June
2018 report.

According to an April 2018 report from the Texas Criminal Coalition, the needs of women in Texas
correctional facilities continue to go unmet. The report found that the state offers 21 job-certification
programs for men and just two for women. Moreover, while men can enroll in programs such as
construction carpentry, electrical technology and advanced industrial design, women are offered less-
lucrative programs like office administration and culinary arts.

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 Additionally, according to a July 2018 article in the Texas Observer, women incarcerated in prisons
in Texas are losing what little access they do have to vital education programs. By 2020, Texas A&M
University-Central says it will completely phase out three, four-year degree programs it offers to women
at several state prisons in Gatesville. This major shift in educational offerings will widen the equity gap
between men and women in the Texas Department of Criminal Justice (TDCJ), leaving women with
access to only an associate degree, while men can earn up to a master’s behind bars in Texas.

»»Ensuring Program Quality

While awareness of prison education has increased over the past year, quality control measures in this
space remain underdeveloped and lack clear parameters. In short, the prison education space acutely
lacks the widespread, outcomes-oriented measurements that govern quality assessments in the broader
education space.

Lumina Foundation has emphasized the importance of quality and highlighted various ways to ensure it.
In a Medium blog post from March, by-lined by Haley Glover, Jesse O’Connell, and Wayne Taliaferro, the
group argued that, “As policymakers and advocates discuss restoring incarcerated learners’ access to
federal financial aid, they should think first about how these funds can be used to create and reinforce
high-quality prison education programs. With federal funding as an incentive, colleges and universities
should be required to put learners first by putting quality first.” The conversation remains centered on the
empirical basis for enhancing prison education programs, both in terms of humanitarian and long-term
fiscal benefits, and the developing bipartisan consensus for action in criminal justice.

The Trump Administration has embraced the notion of monitoring the progress of specific prison
education initiatives. The Department of Education designated the 2015 Second Chance Pell Pilot Program
as a unique opportunity to research program quality. “We think with 65 schools and 10,000 students,
we have a real opportunity to learn something,” said Dianne Auer Jones, principal deputy undersecretary

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 for the Department of Education. However, the program’s small sample size has have made it difficult to
conduct robust, programmatic evaluation.

Quality assessment of prison education programs is important for many reasons. Not only will new and
better data shed light on outcomes beyond recidivism, such as such as program completion rates, job
attainment after release and income tracking—they will also help inform the fair allocation of federal
funding to prison education programs, such as Pell Grants.

Ongoing Barriers
»»Insufficient Program Funding
Even with growing state and private sector support, prison education programs remain severely
underfunded, especially in light of the near five-to-one return such programs produce. Inadequate
funding for incarcerated persons, exacerbated by incarcerated persons’ ineligibility to access Pell Grant
funds, represents a meaningful impediment to educational attainment among the incarcerated.

Pell Grants are perhaps the most impactful public policy tool for low-income students to achieve
their higher education goals. In 1972, when Pell Grants were first issued, they were available to the
incarcerated population. The Clinton Administration’s Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act
of 1994 ended inmates’ eligibility for these grants, severely limiting access to education in prison. As a
result, the overwhelming majority of incarcerated persons cannot access this crucial source of higher
education financial aid. The only exception is the roughly 12,000 incarcerated persons who gained access
through the Obama Era Second Chance Pell Program, which granted incarcerated persons access to
Pell Grant funding at 67 prisons across the country.

Reinstating Pell eligibility for incarcerated persons has generated bipartisan support with prominent
voices from both sides of the aisle stepping up to advocate for the policy. In the Senate, Mike Lee (R-UT),
Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Brian Schatz (D-HI) introduced the the Restoring Education and Learning (REAL)

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Act—which included provisions around Pell Grants for incarcerated persons. Additionally, Senator Lamar
Alexander (R-TN), chair of the Senate education committee, has stated that he is considering including
Pell Grant eligibility expansion in a rewrite of the Higher Education Act (HEA).

The Trump Administration has indicated their interest in the policy, including Betsy DeVos, who said the
grants were, “a very good and interesting possibility.” The January 2019 report from the Vera Institute
of Justice made headlines with an in-depth analysis of the fiscal and social benefits of reinstating
Pell grant eligibility for incarcerated persons. If eligibility was restored, more than 463,000 incarcerated
persons could utilize the program—with an estimated wage increases of $45 million in the first year—
and a reduction of more than $365 million annually in state prison costs. Celebrities have joined in on
the action, praising the program’s transformative impact on the incarcerated and inserting themselves
into the broader criminal justice reform space. Additionally, individual success stories have helped spur
public support for the initiative.

While expanding Pell eligibility to incarcerated

persons is widely supported, the inherent political
nature of Pell Grants—which require federal
appropriations to stay funded, and therefore can
be jeopardized by any administration—makes this
a less-than-desirable policy solution for states and
institutions looking to secure a long-term funding
source for prison education. This has led observers
to call for education reform to expand beyond
the Pell Program and further support education
programs in prisons.

A robust dialogue on social media, from everyday

Americans to journalists, reflects the significant
coverage of Pell Grants for incarcerated persons.
In particular, the Vera report in detailing the long-term fiscal benefits of expanded Pell Grant eligibility was
cited frequently from individuals that appeared to be both left- and right-leaning, indicating the bipartisan
support for increasing Pell Grant access for incarcerated persons.

ALTERNATIVES TO PELL FUNDING

Expanding Pell Grant eligibility for incarcerated persons is an important step in bettering the prison
education landscape. However, a program so reliant on the political system for repeated reauthorization is
destined for uncertainty. In addition to reliability concerns, issue experts argue that more must be done
to ensure adequate educational access for the incarcerated. Some look to community college not only
as an underrated element of the broader higher education system, but also as an area of opportunity
to expand educational programs to the incarcerated. These ideas illustrate the need to move beyond Pell
Grants for incarcerated persons as an end-all-be-all policy solution.

Some federal funding sources have helped bridge the gap. Passed into law in 1998 as a component of
the Workforce Investment Act, the Adult Education and Family Literacy Act (AEFLA) created a one-stop-
shop for integrated federal employment, adult education and vocational rehabilitation programs seeking
to create a better educated workforce. Funding for AEFLA through 2020 was reauthorized through the
Department of Defense and Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education Appropriations Act of 2019
and the Continuing Appropriations Act, which was signed last September. The law creates potential for

17
interesting funding opportunities in the prison education space, as up to 20 percent of federal funds
may be awarded through the act to correctional education. In 2015 states had utilized only $20 million
of a potential $114 million federal dollars for prison education funding.

In some cases, prison systems have stepped in to fill the vacuum created by Pell grant ineligibility.
Programs like the Prison University Program (PUP) in San Quentin, California, have—to a limited extent—
plugged gaps in the prison education system by creating their own universities. Their mission is
to provide an opportunity for incarcerated persons to better themselves through education and raise
awareness around issues in the criminal justice reform space. These efforts have made an impact in the
state of California on both the prison and broader higher educational planes. Results in the PUP program
have been largely positive, with participants reporting improved mental health and career prospects,
along with reduced recidivism at the individual level. Some individuals have even credited enlightened
perspectives on racial bias to the collaborative culture facilitated at San Quentin facility.

Wyoming has also seen success with its prison education program—Wyoming Pathways from Prison—
touting a low recidivism rate nearing 25 percent, which significantly outperforms the national average
of 43 percent. The program has existed since 2016 and expanded in October 2018 after receiving grants
from Microsoft and Wyoming Humanities. Utilizing a volunteer-based model, the program works
to provide high-quality college courses, which mirror those offered at the University of Wyoming, to
incarcerated individuals in the state’s five correctional facilities. Faculty, staff and supervised students
volunteer to teach courses in their areas of specialization, accruing no additional fiscal burden on the state.

In Indiana, the Indiana Department of Corrections has formed partnerships with community colleges
to allow incarcerated persons to earn industry-accepted credentials. These programs illustrate the
opportunity for growth among alternative programs that can, alongside Pell Program eligibility expansion,
supplement the prison education system and ensure the incarcerated have access to robust education
programs.

18
»»Challenges Connecting Credentials and Postsecondary Credits
Since the original brief was developed, states, institutions and prisons have made little progress on
solving the thorny issue incarcerated persons face when trying to connect and transfer credential credits
between higher education programs at different correctional institutions. Incarcerated persons who are
able to access classes or credentials are often limited by the transferability of their credits, due to the
frequency of transfers amongst prisons and the lack of a cohesive system. However, a new program has
been established to help address this issue.

The Institute for Higher Education Policy (IHEP) recently launched Degrees When Due, a three-year
initiative to help states and postsecondary institutions improve degree completion, especially among
students with some college credits, but no degree. IHEP works to re-engage stopped-out students
(students with some credits, but no degree) by providing targeted support to help them complete their
studies. The program also helps colleges award associate degrees to students who have earned the right
credits at one or more institutions. Currently, participating campuses exist in states including California,
Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York, Texas, Utah and Washington.

»»Persistent Stigma
Even with the strides that have been made to advance federal policy, corporate and higher education
support and public sentiment around prison education, those reentering society after serving time in
prison still face significant hurdles and stigma that must be overcome to ensure their success.

Among these are legal barriers to work in areas where they have already developed skills and gained
experience. Consider that people who learn legal skills as jailhouse lawyers may be ineligible to practice
law in at least 11 states due to license restrictions, according to the National Inventory of Collateral
Consequences of Conviction. As another example, in August 2018, California enlisted over 2,000
incarcerated persons to help prevent the spread of devastating forest fires. However, upon release,
most of those incarcerated persons were be ineligible to be firefighters, as the position often requires an
EMT certification, which formerly incarcerated persons are prohibited from pursuing.

19
During the fires, everyday Americans echoed the same sentiment that denying these previously
incarcerated persons work post-release was morally wrong. This feeling was intensified by the fact that
these incarcerated workers helped fight some of the largest and most dangerous fires in California. The
injustice lent itself to be a glaring example of the dichotomy between the expectations of incarcerated
persons while incarcerated and the barriers placed upon them once they have re-entered society.

BARRIER-BUSTING REENTRY PROGRAMS

Reentry programs help incarcerated and formerly incarcerated persons overcome the many barriers they
face both in and out of prison, including securing jobs, housing and other critical goods and services.

Our research found that in many cases, reentry programs are still highly-specialized, often focusing on
helping current and formerly incarcerated persons overcome a small number of specific barriers as they
reenter society. However, over the past year, more organizations are establishing new areas of expertise
and partnering with business and nonprofits to develop programs that meet the complex and challenging
demands formerly incarcerated persons face upon re-entry. Below we’ve detailed a few of these
programs identified in our research.

• In March 2019, Case Western Reserve University’s School of Law announced that it entered into a
new partnership with Cuyahoga County Office of Reentry to establish the “Second Chance Reentry
Law Clinic” that assists returning citizens with a variety of collateral legal issues that resulted from
their incarceration.

• In August 2018 Slack announced that it would be launching a tech based apprenticeship program
for formerly incarcerated persons with The Last Mile, a technology-training re-entry nonprofit.
Together they entered into a partnership and created Next Chapter, a pilot program that aims to
help formerly incarcerated persons find work and succeed in tech sector. The program will train and
place three readmitted individuals inside Slack as quality-engineering apprentices over the course of
a year. The apprenticeship includes an initial startup bootcamp, followed by four months of on-the-job
training and four months of work. At the duration of the apprenticeship, Slack can decide to hire the
apprentices or help them obtain employment at another technology company.

• In 2019, The Brownsville Neighborhood Health Action Center in New York City launched a seven-
week reentry workshop program series from March 1, 2019 to April 12, 2019 to support formerly
incarcerated persons on their path back into society. The reentry workshop provided a wide breadth
of services, and focused on reentry challenges and stigmas, mental health and trauma, substance
abuse and awareness, employment after reentry, maintaining health after incarceration and the
impact of incarceration on families.

• In January 2019, Delaware’s correctional facilities was awarded $1.5 million in federal grants, so
the state could expand its prison reentry programs. Delaware plans to provide financial assistance
to individuals on probation, equip incarcerated persons with job know-how and broaden treatment
initiatives.

• In October 2018, it was announced that Paterson New Jersey would begin hosting job reentry
training programs under the state’s NJ Build initiative. Under the initiative, almost $186,000 was
set aside for a 16-week construction trade course at the HoHoKus School of Trade in Paterson. Each
course was said to have had at least 25 slots available for previously incarcerated persons.

20
 • Over the past four years, Columbia College has worked closely with Sierra Conservation Center
(SCC) to expand their current educational offerings. This March, the school was awarded a $100,000
grant to support the expansion and improvement of the college’s programs serving currently and
formerly incarcerated students.The grant allows the school to have more face-to-face courses and
academic and career counseling to serve more currently and previously incarcerated students. In
addition to the school’s prison education program, Columbia College also launched the Making
Alternative Transformations (MAT) program, which is a complementary on-campus program designed
to assist formerly incarcerated or justice involved students to transition to the campus and the
community.

• A New Way of Life Reentry project has been providing safe housing and other services for formerly
incarcerated women and their children since 1998. It aims to not only help formerly incarcerated
women get back on their feet, but also provide a space for them to advocate for social change around
issues that affect previously incarcerated persons—such as employment, eligibility for housing,
receiving a license, and regaining custody of children. As a result of the program’s continued success,
founder Susan Burton has received many requests for training from other reentry programs around
the U.S. For that reason, she decided to launch the SAFE housing network in December 2018 to
share best practices with other reentry programs.

“We want to share our model as widely as we can and use our knowledge
and experience to support the replication of our model in communities
around the country that are impacted by mass incarceration.”

– Susan Burton, Founder, A New Way of Life

»»Relevant Articles Appendix

• Starved for staff, firms consider ex-offenders (5.3.19) via Indianapolis Business Journal

• A majority of Americans don’t want to give imprisoned felons the right to vote (5.3.19) via Vox

• “Smart” Technology Is Coming for Prisons, Too (4.30.19) via Slate

• Bernie Sanders Opens Space for Debate on Voting Rights for Incarcerated People (4.27.19) via
The New York Times

• Bill to end ban on Pell Grants for prisoners gains traction (4.25.19) via Education Dive

• Bernie Sanders wrong about prisoners and voting, ex-con released under Trump reform law
says (4.24.19) via Fox News

• Can prisoners vote in other countries? Bernie sanders wants felons to cast ballots while
incarcerated (4.24.19) via Newsweek

• Democrats differ on granting voting rights to prisoners (4.23.19) via NBC News

21
• Inmate Education Success Stories Shared at Department Convening (4.22.19) via Diverse Issues
In Higher Education

• Congress Considers Making College More Accessible To People In Prison (4.20.19) via NPR

• What’s The Value Of A College In Prison Program — Beyond Recidivism? (4.19.19) via Illinois
Public Media

• After nudge from T.D. Jakes, AT&T CEO hires formerly incarcerated and urges employers to
‘step up’ (4.18.19) via The Dallas Morning News

• Congress Should Pass The REAL Act And Make Prisoners Eligible For Pell Grants Again (4.15.19)
via Forbes

• Kim Kardashian exemplifies how celebrity activism ought to be done (4.11.19) via The
Washington Examiner

• Does college education in prison work? Ask the 8,800 Inmates Who Got Pell Grants (4.11.19) via
The Crime Report

• Human Rights Watch details ongoing U.S. criminal justice abuses (4.11.19) via The
American Prospect

• Schatz reintroduces bill to repeal Pell ban (4.10.19) via Inside Higher Ed

• Restore Pell Grant eligibility to people in prison (4.9.19) via The Hill

• Mike Lee introduces bipartisan legislation to restore Pell Grant eligibility to prison inmates
(4.9.19) via St George News

• Schatz Introduces Legislation To Restore Educational Opportunities For Those Incarcerated And
Improve Public Safety (4.9.19) via Schatz Senate

• Report suggests deregulating professional licensing rules could reduce the state’s recidivism
rate (4.8.19) via The Capitolist

• Bernie Sanders wants to expand voting rights by letting people in prison vote (4.8.19) via Vox

• Sanders says he’s open to letting convicts vote from prison (4.8.19) via CNN

• Justice Dept. works on applying sentencing law as critics point to delays (4.8.19) via The New
York Times

• Education Department Urged to Evaluate Second-Chance Pell (4.5.19) via Inside Higher Ed

• Klobuchar: On criminal justice reform, it’s time for a second step (4.5.19) via CNN

• Isaiah Washington slams Obama, praises Trump for the First Step Act (4.5.19) via Ebony

• America is finally being exposed to the devastating reality of prison violence (4.5.19) via Vox

• Actions needed to evaluate Pell Grant Pilot for incarcerated students (4.5.19) via U.S
Government Accountability Office (GAO)

• You’re out of prison. Now you have to get your driver’s license back. (4.4.19) via The
Washington Post

22
• Ban The Box: U.s. Cities, Counties, And States Adopt Fair Hiring Policies (4.4.19) via The National
Employment Law Project

• Voters are driving justice reform (4.3.19) via The Hill

• DOJ-report-on-Alabama-prisons (4.2.19) via The Department of Justice

• Trump makes April First Step Act Month, aiming to boost prisoner rehabilitation efforts (4.1.19)
via Fox News

• 3 Months Into New Criminal Justice Law, Success For Some And Snafus For Others
(4.1.19) via NPR

• President Donald J. Trump Is Committed to Building on the Successes of the First Step Act
(4.1.19) via The White House

• Teaching in America’s prisons has taught me to believe in second chances (3.23.19) via The Good
Men Project

• First step or first stumble? (3.21.19) via Diverse Issues in Higher Education

• “Medicare for All” is missing a vital group: the incarcerated (3.21.19) via The Marshall Project

• What the college admissions scandal says about racial inequality (3.20.19) via Vox

• Columbia College Awarded $100,000 State Grant for Currently and Formerly Incarcerated
Students Reentry Program (3.20.19) via Columbia College

• Reducing number of repeat offenders by improving re-entry system (3.19.19) via The Daily

• The case for college behind bars (3.15.19) via FutureEd

• Thinking beyond prisoner reform to reintegration (3.15.19) via The Hill

• Trump has been bragging about his victory on the big criminal justice reform bill. Now he’s
kneecapping it (3.14.19) via Mother Jones

• First Step Act comes up short in Trump’s 2020 budget (3.12.19) via The Marshall Project

• Trump’s Budget Shortchanges the Prison Reform Bill He Signed (3.12.19) via Reason

• DOCCS Fact Sheet via (3.11.19) The New York Department of Corrections and Community
Supervision

• A Filmmaker Followed 12 Prisoners Through a Liberal-Arts Education. Here’s What She Learned.
via (3.11.19) The Chronicle of Higher Education

• Cory Booker takes the lead on criminal justice reform in 2020 campaign with new bill
(3.7.19) via CNBC

• Prison education: Making the most of a second chance (3.5.19) via Lumina Foundation

• Gov. Bill Lee announces new efforts to help Tennessee prison inmates successfully re-enter
society (2.29.19) via Times Free Press

• Re-Entry Program for Formerly Incarcerated Launches in Brownsville (2.28.19) via BK Reader

23
• San Quentin rehabilitation programs offer inmates education, a voice (2.27.19) via The Daily
Californian

• Can edtech behind bars help keep people out? (2.25.19) via EdSurge

• U of I College In Prison Program Receives $90,000 Grant (2.25.19) via WILL

• Prison can be a place ‘where people learn,’ Governors agree (2.25.19) via The Crime Report

• New York’s state prisons are brutal and deadly. That’s something we can change (2.21.19) via
Gothamist

• Florida felons once denied rights begin registering to vote (2.21.19) via The New York Times

• How the Federal Government Undermines Prison Education (2.18.19) via The Intercept

• Politico morning education (2.14.19) via Politico

• The First Step Act, explained (2.5.19) Via Vox

• Tech is splitting the U.S. work force in two (2.4.19) via The New York Times

• Integrate & educate: New program in Idaho brings UI students, inmates together for class
(2.3.19) via The Lewiston Tribune

• Investing in futures (1.19) via Vera Institute of Justice

• This key federal program to help prisoners get an education was stopped in 1994. It’s time to
bring it back (1.29.19) via Fast Company

• SHRM launches new hiring pledge — but Koch involvement draws backlash (1.29.19)
via HR Dive

• State gets $1.5M in grants to ease inmates’ re-entry into life ‘outside’ (1.23.19) via Delaware
State News

• Giving inmates tablets will help with staffing, safety issues, SC prisons director says (1.21.19)
via The State

• APNewsBreak: SC inmates to get tablets for movies, calling (1.17.19) via The Associated Press

• Report shows benefit of prison education (1.16.19) via Inside Higher Ed

• How lifting a federal ban on student aid for inmates could bolster state economies (1.16.19) via
The Washington Post

• The benefits of lifting the federal Pell ban for incarcerated people (1.16.19) via Diverse Education

• New Report: Postsecondary Education In Prison Increases Employment Among Formerly

Incarcerated, Cuts Costs & Benefits Businesses (1.16.19) via Vera Institute

• Bard Prison Initiative Holds Commencement Ceremony at Eastern Correctional Facility (1.16.19)
via Bard College

• Ending Pell Grant ban for prisoners could give 463,000 college access, report finds (1.16.19) via
EducationDrive

24
• Ending ban on Pell Grants for prisoners is said to yield ‘cascade’ of benefits (1.16.19) via The
Chronicle of Higher Education

• Investing in futures: fact sheet (1.2019) via Vera Institute of Justice

• Our mission (2019) via Prison University Project

• Does Your State Ban the Box with Job Applications? What You Need to Know (12.28.18)

• Trump signs bipartisan criminal justice bill amid partisan rancor over stopgap spending
measure (12.21.18) via The Washington Post

• How Jared Kushner, Kim Kardashian West and Congress drove the criminal justice overhaul
(12.21.18) via CNN

• “Inside Higher Education” Op-Ed by President Scales Addresses Benefits of Prison Education
(12.19.18) via Nyack

• The Transformative Effects of Prison Education (12.19.18) via Inside Higher Ed

• Second chance Pell students earn college degree (12.18.18) via Diverse Education
• A New Way of Life Founder Susan Burton to Launch National Reentry Housing Replication
Model (12.13.18) via Los Angeles Sentinel
• IC to Pilot Prison Education Program via Ithaca College (12.12.18) via Ithaca College
• The First Step Act, Congress’s criminal justice reform bill, explained (12.11.18) via Vox
• Criminal justice reform splits 2020 Democrats (12.5.18) via The Hill
• UC Berkeley must improve education access for people in prison (11.30.18) via The Daily
Californian

• Georgetown Launches Inmate Re-Entry and Education Program (11.30.18) via The Hoya
• SVCC Receives Funding For Campus Within Walls (11.28.18) via Southside Community College
• Massive sex blackmail scheme run by SC inmates targeted military, officials say (11.28.18) via
The State

• The truth about the First Step Act (11.27.18) via The National Review
• What’s really in Congress’s justice-reform bill (11.26.18) via The National Review
• Why prison reform must include Pell Grant access (11.19.18) via The Chronicle of Higher
Education

• IHEP Launches Degrees When Due, New Initiative to Help Colleges Boost Degree-
Completion, Narrow Degree Attainment Inequities (11.9.18) via IHEP
• Florida restores voting rights to more than 1 million felons (11.7.18) via CNN
• Jeff Sessions turned Trump’s “tough on crime” dreams into reality (11.6.18) via Vox
• Missouri Department of Corrections offering higher education opportunity for staff and
offenders (11.1.18) via KTTN

25
• The Prison-to-College Pipeline (10.2018) via The Washington Monthly
• Getting Back on Course (10.2018) via Prison Policy Initiative
• Getting Back on Course: Educational exclusion and attainment among formerly incarcerated
people (10.2018) Via Prison Policy Institute

• Prison re-entry job training programs starting in Paterson in December (10.17.18) via
North Jersey

• Can screen time replace the warmth of a hug? Prisons make a big push on devices (10.12.18)
via The Fast Company

• UW Pathways from prison program expands with grants (10.5.18) via NWI Times

• “Free” tablets are costing prison inmates a fortune (10.5.18) via Mother Jones

• Northwestern launches prison education program, will provide college credits to inmates
(10.5.18) via The Northwestern Daily

• Cause Celeb: Allison Williams advocates for a lifting of the Pell Grant ban for incarcerated
students (10.1.18) via The Washington Post

• One prison taught me racism. Another taught me acceptance. (10.1.18) via The Washington Post

• H.R.6157 - Department of Defense and Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education
Appropriations Act, 2019 and Continuing Appropriations Act, 2019 (9.28.18) via Congress.Gov

• Adult education is evolving through theory, legislation, and innovative practice (9.26.18)
via CLASP

• $1.7 million Mellon grant fortifies prison education (9.24.18) via Cornell edu

• Why companies are turning to ex-cons to fill slots for workers (9.18.18) via CNBC

• The prison-to-college pipeline (9.10.18) via The Washington Monthly

• Incarcerated workers demand better conditions in nationwide strike (9.7.18) via The
American Prospect

• Effort to support postsecondary education in prison will be housed at MIT (9.6.18)

via MIT News

• Indiana is preparing prisoners with skills needed to acquire high-demand jobs on release
(9.2.18) via NWI Times

• Building momentum behind prison education (8.29.18) via Inside Higher Ed

• Big tech’s newest experiment in criminal-justice reform (8.29.18) via The Atlantic

• Big Tech’s Newest Experiment in Criminal-Justice Reform (8.29.18) via The Atlantic

• Next Chapter: A pilot program aiming to help formerly incarcerated individuals find work and
succeed in tech (8.29.18) via Slack

• In Tight Labor Market, Inmates Learn to Code (8.28.18) via The Wall Street Journal

26
• In tight labor market, inmates learn to code (8.28.18) via The Wall Street Journal

• Inmate education to continue in Connecticut, at least for now (8.23.18) via The CT Mirror

• A mass incarceration expert says the 2018 prison strike could be “one of the largest the
country has ever seen” (8.22.18) via Vox

• America’s prisoners are going on strike in at least 17 states (8.22.18) via Vox

• Common App Drops Criminal History Question (8.13.18) via Inside Higher Ed

• The Common App Will Stop Asking About Students’ Criminal Histories (8.10.18) via The Atlantic

• The outrageous scam of “free” tablets for the incarnated (8.10.18) via The Outline

• The Prison University Project qualitative evidence on the impact of prison higher education
(8.1.18) via University of California, Berkeley

• First Group Of Students Graduates From Wesleyan’s Prison Education Program (7.31.18) via
Hartford Courant

• First Group Of Students Graduates From Wesleyan’s Prison Education Program (7.31.18)
via Courant

• Virtual reality goes behind bars to rehabilitate inmates (7.27.18) via ZD Net

• New IHEP research initiative to assess impact of prison-based postsecondary education

Programs (7.19.18) via The Institute for Higher Education Policy

• Digital Sales Are Transforming Business Within Prisons (7.19.18) via Slate

• In U.S. prisons, tablets open window to the outside world (7.18.18) via Reuters

• College Degree Options Are Disappearing for Women in Texas Prisons (7.12.18) via Texas Observer

• Michigan inmates may lose college funding. That’s bad news for the rest of us. (7.10.18) via
Bridge Magazine

• Complete Guide: Which Schools Use the Common Application? (7.7.18) via PrepScholar

• Does Providing Inmates with Education Improve Postrelease Outcomes? (7.3.18) via Rand
Corporation

• South Carolina’s New Expungement Law Could Increase Applicant Pool (7.2.18) via Lexology

• States of Women’s Incarceration: The Global Context 2018 (6.2018) via Prison Policy Initiative

• How prisons can use tech to slow their ever-revolving doors (6.26.18) via Slate

• Stetson Receives $210,000 grant for Prison Education Project (6.25.18) via Stetson edu

• The future of corrections education technology; tablets over textbooks (6.19.18) via Cision

• Alice Johnson Is Free, But Is the Trump Administration Actually Committed to Criminal Justice
Reform? (6.19.18) via Glamour

• Offering inmates a second chance through degree pathways (6.18.18) via Education Dive

27
• Why Aren’t We Spending More on Prisoner Education? (6.8.18) via The Crime Report

• Prison chief: better pay, tech upgrades helping make prisons safer (6.6.18) via Daily Advance

• Rethinking our metrics: research in the field of higher education in prison (5.28.18) via The
Prison Journal

• ‘Could I make it in college?’: His journey to a bachelor’s degree started behind bars (5.24.18) via
The Washington Post

• Democrats split over Trump’s prison pitch (5.23.18) Via The Atlantic

• Sweeping Bipartisan Prison Reform Bill Passes House; Barrels Toward Senate (5.22.18) via
Jeffries House Gov

• Incarceration to Reentry: Education & Training Pathways in Ohio (5.21.18) via CLASP

• Erasing the Stigma With ‘Fair-Chance’ Hiring (5.16.18) via B The Change

• Bard Prison Initiative leads national meeting of college-in-prison programs (5.14.18) via
Bard College

• Educators, advocates push for better access to education in prisons (5.7.18) via Wyoming Tribune
Eagle (WyomingNews.com)

• An Unsupported Population: The Treatment of Women in Texas’ Criminal Justice System

(4.2018) via Texas Criminal Justice Coalition

• A second chance for people in prison (4.26.18) via Community College Daily

• Edovo’s Quest to Improve Incarcerated Lives (4.25.18) via Techweek

• Inmate Education is the Key to Reducing Recidivism Rates Nationwide and Worth the
Investment (4.16.18) via PR Newswire

• Illinois Prison System Spent Less Than $300 On Books Last Year (4.16.18) via NPR

• ‘Ban the Box’ bill would make it harder for employers to discriminate against people with
criminal records (4.12.19) via The Colorado Independent

• Florida Expands Education Opportunities For Prisoners (3.29.18) via WRLN

• The uncertain fate of college in prison (3.28.18) via The Marshall Project

• NYU’s Prison Education Program Receives $1 Million Grant from Mellon Foundation
(3.26.18) via NYU

• Incentivizing Employers to Hire Ex-Offenders (2018) via Rand Corporation

• The Gender Divide: Tracking Women’s State Prison Growth via Prison Policy Initiative (1.9.18)

• The Trump administration just took its first big step to escalate the war on drugs
(5.12.17) via Vox

• For ban-the-box to work, employers must enforce anti-discrimination policies (2.24.17)

via HR Dive

28
• Tablets Approved for Some Arkansas Inmates (4.19.16) via Ozarks First

• Recidivism Among Federal Offenders: A Comprehensive Overview (3.2016) via United States
Sentencing Commission

• Educational Technology in Corrections (2015) via The Department of Education

• How Effective Is Correctional Education, and Where Do We Go from Here? (2.2014) via BJA.gov

• Adult Education and Family Literacy Act of 1998 (9.17.13) via U.S. Department of Education

• Ban the Box Timeline via Prisoners With Children

• Degrees When Due Gives Campuses The Tools To Get Students Back On Track And Across The
Degree-completion Finish Line. via Degrees When Due

• Transforming Correctional Facilities through Technology via GTL

• H.R.254 - REAL Act of 2017 via Congress.gov

29
30