In this research brief, researchers share findings from incarcerated students and alumni regarding their experiences with technology during enrollment in postsecondary education and participation in Second Chance Pell.
In this research brief, researchers share findings from incarcerated students, alumni, and formerly incarcerated participants regarding their academic experiences during enrollment in postsecondary education and participation in Second Chance Pell.
The 1994 Crime Bill barred incarcerated students from receiving Pell Grants. In 2015, the Second Chance Pell Experiment began allowing a select number of institutions of higher education to provide Pell Grants to eligible incarcerated students. The Research Collaborative on Higher Education in Prison conducted a three-year study with participants at select Second Chance Pell sites to learn about their experiences with implementation. The administrators and program leaders, as well as currently and formerly incarcerated students and alumni, participating in our Exploring the Experiences of…
Passed in December 2020, the FAFSA Simplification Act amendments eliminate the 1994 ban on Pell Grants for students in state and federal prisons; incarcerated students who enroll in approved prison education programs will be able to access Pell beginning in 2023. From fall 2021 to spring 2022, the Research Collaborative on Higher Education in Prison at the University of Utah conducted 21 focus groups with over 100 currently or formerly incarcerated students and alumni. These students are among the few who have already received Pell Grants through the Second Chance Pell Experiment, launched…
The research team asked if institutional leaders provide tuition statements to incarcerated students. If so, the leaders were asked to provide de-identified student bills as part of their participation in the study. Five institutions provided these documents. If they responded, the researchers described what each institution offered to their team. It is important to note that their team received this information and documents from administrators, not students. Thus, they cannot make claims regarding whether incarcerated students actually receive institutional tuition or billing statements.…
This research brief draws on focus groups conducted by the Research Collaborative on Higher Education in Prison at the University of Utah with incarcerated students and formerly incarcerated alumni of prison higher education programs. The researchers examine the perceptions of federal student aid among student participants in the Second Chance Pell Experiment across four institutions. Specifically, they share perceptions of the communications students receive from program staff and administrators regarding financial aid, including FAFSA, tuition statements, and refunds.
This brief examines student and alumni understandings of federal student aid. Specifically, this brief explores their perceptions and understandings of the Pell Grant, eligibility for the Pell Grant—including lifetime eligibility used (LEU) limits—and how these perceptions might influence students' postsecondary educational journeys.
This research brief draws upon three years of data collection through a national mixed-methods project, Exploring the Experiences of Participants in Second Chance Pell. It highlights the perspectives of Pell recipients enrolled at four institutions of higher education participating in the federal experiment. Specifically, it focuses on students’ perceptions of the costs of postsecondary education and the Pell Grant. Overall, students report that they incur many expenses to participate in postsecondary education that are not covered by Pell.
The Second Chance Pell Experimental Sites Initiative, launched in 2015, has already impacted the landscape of prison higher education by increasing the number of colleges and universities providing in-prison postsecondary education. This research brief draws upon three years of data collection through a national mixed-methods project, Exploring the Experiences of Participants in Second Chance Pell. Here, we include data collected from the staff at four higher education institutions in financial aid, admissions, and the registrar or related unit. The larger study focused on nine…
Launched in 2015, the Second Chance Pell Experiment allowed a select number of institutions of higher education to provide Pell Grants to incarcerated students. Seven years later, and on the cusp of Pell expansion, there are a few noteworthy impacts of the federal experiment:
» As of 2022, up to 200 institutions of higher education can participate in the federal experiment.
» Over 28,000 unduplicated students enrolled in postsecondary education through the Second Chance Pell Experiment from 2016 through 2021.
» Across the pilot’s first 2 years, institutions awarded approximately…
