Advocacy and Policy

Led by the inaugural cohort of the Justice Fellows Policy Program, The Education Trust, in partnership with local higher education and justice advocates, analyzed state support for currently and formerly incarcerated students in eight states—California, Illinois, Louisiana, New York, Michigan, Ohio, Tennessee, and Texas—and developed state-specific toolkits to help advocates and policymakers tear down the remaining barriers for justice-impacted students.

This paper presents preliminary findings from a survey SHEEO administered to its members in 2018. The paper is organized around three main categories: access, program delivery, and reentry of program participants into society.

In this paper, Jobs for the Future elaborates on over a decade of work supporting community college access and completion to offer a more inclusive policy approach. This approach is specifically targeted to ensuring that our postsecondary systems are designed in ways that narrow achievement gaps, especially for those populations of students and workers who are at particular risk of not gaining the skills, competencies, and credentials needed to share in and contribute to our nation’s economic growth.

Led by the inaugural cohort of the Justice Fellows Policy Program, The Education Trust, in partnership with local higher education and justice advocates, analyzed state support for currently and formerly incarcerated students in eight states—California, Illinois, Louisiana, New York, Michigan, Ohio, Tennessee, and Texas—and developed state-specific toolkits to help advocates and policymakers tear down the remaining barriers for justice-impacted students.

Led by the inaugural cohort of the Justice Fellows Policy Program, The Education Trust, in partnership with local higher education and justice advocates, analyzed state support for currently and formerly incarcerated students in eight states—California, Illinois, Louisiana, New York, Michigan, Ohio, Tennessee, and Texas—and developed state-specific toolkits to help advocates and policymakers tear down the remaining barriers for justice-impacted students.

Led by the inaugural cohort of the Justice Fellows Policy Program, The Education Trust, in partnership with local higher education and justice advocates, analyzed state support for currently and formerly incarcerated students in eight states—California, Illinois, Louisiana, New York, Michigan, Ohio, Tennessee, and Texas—and developed state-specific toolkits to help advocates and policymakers tear down the remaining barriers for justice-impacted students.

Led by the inaugural cohort of the Justice Fellows Policy Program, The Education Trust, in partnership with local higher education and justice advocates, analyzed state support for currently and formerly incarcerated students in eight states—California, Illinois, Louisiana, New York, Michigan, Ohio, Tennessee, and Texas—and developed state-specific toolkits to help advocates and policymakers tear down the remaining barriers for justice-impacted students.

Led by the inaugural cohort of the Justice Fellows Policy Program, The Education Trust, in partnership with local higher education and justice advocates, analyzed state support for currently and formerly incarcerated students in eight states—California, Illinois, Louisiana, New York, Michigan, Ohio, Tennessee, and Texas—and developed state-specific toolkits to help advocates and policymakers tear down the remaining barriers for justice-impacted students.

Led by the inaugural cohort of the Justice Fellows Policy Program, The Education Trust, in partnership with local higher education and justice advocates, analyzed state support for currently and formerly incarcerated students in eight states—California, Illinois, Louisiana, New York, Michigan, Ohio, Tennessee, and Texas—and developed state-specific toolkits to help advocates and policymakers tear down the remaining barriers for justice-impacted students.

This report surveys the current landscape of correctional education, discussing both the educational needs of people involved in the criminal justice system and the programs being provided to meet those needs. It reviews research on the effectiveness of correctional education, outlines the guiding principles for effective programming, discusses the issues involved in providing education in correctional settings, and identifies some potential responses to these challenges.

In February of 2021, Ascendium supported Open Campus Media’s virtual convening of more than 100 attendees exploring the future of technology in postsecondary education in prison. Representatives from universities, advocacy groups, funders, and state corrections systems examined such topics as student perspectives on technology in prison education and the lifting of the Pell Grant ban. This summary highlights the day’s discussions.

This web center was created to keep both financial aid community and prison education program administrators updated on tools, training, and news related to the implementation of financial aid in carceral settings.

The goal of this resource is to enable stakeholders to compare eligibility requirements pertaining to justice system impact across major aid programs and states.

This policy outline provides an overview of state financial aid access for students enrolled in prison postsecondary education programs or students with prior criminal convictions who are enrolled in postsecondary education outside of prison.

This is a solicitation for grant funding from the U.S. Department of Justice's Bureau of Justice Assistance.

This is a solicitation for grant funding from the U.S. Department of Justice's Bureau of Justice Assistance.

This is a solicitation for grant funding from the U.S. Department of Justice's Bureau of Justice Assistance.

This is the full text of the FAFSA Simplification Act, as passed by the 116th Congress.

This fact sheet from the Vera Institute of Justice highlights new regulations, passed by Congress on October 28, 2022, that prison education programs must follow to access Pell Grants for incarcerated students.

In this webinar hosted by the National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators (NASFAA), experts on administering financial aid in prison settings discuss what financial aid administrators and prison education practitioners can do to ensure they are prepared to effectively support incarcerated learners with Pell Grant eligibility.

Learn tips to successfully administer Pell Grants for incarcerated students and gain an understanding of the existing regulations and guidance impacting prison education programs and the tools available to assist the financial aid and prison education communities when serving this student population.