The information provided here from Jobs for the Future (JFF) is a snapshot of factors to consider when offering programs to students who are incarcerated and who are not eligible for Pell Grants. Universities and colleges are individually operated, and not all strategies are equally applicable.
This resource from Jobs for the Future (JFF) is designed to help prison education programs, correctional agencies, and financial aid departments establish the critical partnerships necessary to effectively administer the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) to incarcerated students. Keep in mind that the details may vary depending on state and local context.
In this article from RealClearEducation, Rebecca Villarreal (senior director at Jobs for the Future) makes the case for prison education programs to hire more alumni upon release.
By the summer of 2023, about 700,000 incarcerated people will be eligible for the federal Pell Grant, gaining access to a critical form of college financial aid for the first time in nearly 30 years. When the 1994 Crime Bill banned Pell for imprisoned individuals, the number of higher education prison programs rapidly dwindled from 1,500 to just eight. With Pell back on the table, institutions are once…
A biweekly newsletter from Open Campus about the future of postsecondary education in prisons. This edition focuses on technology in prisons.
This news article from Open Campus is a first-person essay by Leo Hylton, an incarcerated graduate student in Maine who stepped out of the prison gate for the first time in more than a decade for an unusual reason: to meet his students on the campus of Colby College.
This news article from Open Campus explores how Kunlyna Tauch, a writer incarcerated in California, used the laptop issued to him as a student at California State University Los Angeles. It was the first computer he's used in 17 years of incarceration.
This news article from Open Campus highlights the work of one of the first incarcerated professors in the country, David Carillo, who teaches incarcerated students in an undergraduate business program at Adams State University in Colorado.
Scholarships, grants, and loans are some of the many options available to help you pay for your college education. But figuring out how to access and combine them can be overwhelming.
This article will help answer questions like, “How do you qualify for a grant vs. a scholarship?” and “How do you apply for student loans vs. scholarships?” Plus, it'll show you how to apply for scholarships, grants, and loans, as well as the best way to put them all together so you can save the most money.
This four-part, Emmy-nominated PBS documentary offers an intimate look at the lives and experiences of a dozen incarcerated students participating in the Bard Prison Initiative and their families. The documentary confronts and challenges conventional wisdom about the purpose of both education and incarceration.
This article was written by Katherine Mangan of the Chronicle of Higher Education.


