The Field of Higher Education in Prison

A New Path: Deportation to Guatemala is a new guide from the Education Justice Project that provides clear, practical information for individuals facing deportation to Honduras.

The guide covers:

• What to expect upon arrival in Guatemala, including how to stay safe;
• Information on housing, employment, education, and more;
• Practical tips for navigating the return and reintegration process;
• A directory of organizations offering support.

Created collaboratively with non-profits and recently deported individuals, our goal is not to facilitate deportation. Rather, we aim to deliver critical information to those facing deportation.

Download the free pdfs (in English and Spanish) at https://reentryillinois.net/a-new-path-individual-chapters/#honduras-deportation-guide

This Guatemala deportation guide is part of a larger resource called A New Path: A Guide to the Challenges and Opportunities After Deportation. We are in the process of updating this guide for 2026 and are sharing out individual chapters as they become available. To request copies of the most recent print edition, please fill out this request form.

Mend, a publication from Project Mend of Syracuse University, celebrates the lives and creative work of incarcerated and formerly incarcerated people as well as individuals who have been impacted by the criminal justice system. This annual publication showcases writing of all types, including fiction, poetry, and nonfiction. While prospective authors may submit pieces that describe their experiences with incarceration, the publication welcomes contributions on any topic.

This Best Interest Determination (BID) Toolkit was created by the Vera Institute of Justice, in partnership with a BID Council and the members of the 2024 Corrections Education Leadership Academy (CELA), to be a resource for corrections agencies to prepare their BID system with all processes, procedures, and stakeholders in place, as necessary, to assess postsecondary institutions offering a PEP, according to federal regulations. To maintain their PEP status, postsecondary institutions must work with their correctional partner, otherwise known as the oversight entity, to complete a program review termed the Best Interest Determination (BID). The final regulations require that the BID must take place, at minimum, within two years of the PEP being approved by the U.S. Department of Education (ED) and must be repeated every time the postsecondary institution renews its Program Participation Agreement or earlier if required by the oversight entity. 

This Toolkit is designed to assist oversight entities with meeting the BID requirements, as outlined in 34 CFR
668.241 of the final regulations, ED’s FAQs that outline the BID process in more detail, and referenced in ED’s
optional form, “Best Interest Determination- Prison Education Program.” Some of the specific suggestions
outlined in this Toolkit are not required by regulations; however, based on a review of the regulations, Vera
recommends oversight entities create the following four tools: 

1. Create a policy describing how the BID will be conducted,
2. Develop template reports for postsecondary institutions offering approved PEPs to complete,
3. Design a BID feedback template for participating stakeholders to complete, and
4. Create a response letter to the postsecondary institution offering the PEP that documents the BID
   outcome.

Ithaka S+R designed a playbook to help correctional education leaders center student learning as they navigate the education technology landscape. The guide, created with support from Ascendium Education Group and in dialogue with several correctional education leaders, provides decision-making tools and frameworks to assist leaders as they consider how to implement new education technology in prisons. 

The playbook includes:

• A framework to help correctional leaders clarify goals and objectives for implementing education technology
• A downloadable set of tools and interactive exercises to guide strategy and strategically plan decision making
• Considerations about the benefits and drawbacks of using different technologies for education
• Ranges of technical specifications to help leaders compare devices

Our aim with the playbook is to provide strategies and approaches that will make it easier to incorporate new education technology to improve educational outcomes, educational equity, and student educational experiences. While the playbook was designed with correctional leaders in mind, we hope it will be of broader value to the higher education in prison field.

This resource details key elements of successful strategies in proposing and conducting jail-based research.

This user-friendly Language Matters Guide builds on Jobs for the Future's 40 years of experience in the education and workforce ecosystem. The guide offers suggestions on how to write and speak about people in ways that promote equity, dignity, and a focus on each individual's potential—rather than labeling them based on the systemic barriers they face.

Topics covered include skills and socioeconomic status, race and ethnicity, criminal justice, and more. Because language is fluid, the recommendations will evolve. 

Postsecondary education programs in prisons collect data on their students to inform program planning; assess students’ academic progress and outcomes; and meet institution, government, and funder reporting requirements. Also, programs applying to the U.S. Department of Education to become an approved prison education program (PEP) must include documentation in their application showing that their postsecondary institution has entered into an agreement with the oversight entity (typically a state department of corrections [DOC]) to obtain data on the transfer and release dates of incarcerated individuals. This resource walks you through the process of establishing consistent access to relevant DOC data on students who are incarcerated through the use of data use agreements (DUAs), also known as data sharing agreements (DSAs), with their DOC partners.

This press release details the U.S. Department of Education's announcement of a new path for borrowers who are incarcerated to exit default through consolidation, providing them access to improved credit and to better repayment options than ever before. Borrowers who had student loans before becoming incarcerated can now consolidate their loans to get out of default, providing them with certain types of loans—including Perkins Loans and commercially held Federal Family Education Loan Program (FFEL) loans—to gain access to income-driven repayment (IDR) plans like the Saving on a Valuable Education (SAVE) Plan. Borrowers who are incarcerated can still sign up for Fresh Start until September 30, 2024, as an additional option to exit default. Previously, this population of borrowers would have to rehabilitate their loans to get out of default, rather than having the option to consolidate.

Accessing high-speed internet in correctional settings can serve as a conduit for incarcerated individuals to receive vocational and technology training programs and set them on a path to success. This recorded webinar highlights state and local examples of how leaders in this space are creating economic development opportunities for justice-impacted individuals and how they are defining their digital equity baselines, indicators, and goals, as well as tools they use to measure success. 

The COVID-19 pandemic has had a negative impact on rehabilitative programs, including education programs, that are provided in state prison systems. State and federal correctional systems implemented a variety of policies to prevent or contain the spread of COVID-19 within this population. As part of this response, many correctional systems ceased or substantially cut back on programming starting in 2020; this included shutting down ongoing education and workforce training programs, as well as other programs and activities, and preventing instructors and other staff from entering prison facilities.

This report presents the authors' findings on how COVID-19 has affected prison education programs within state correctional systems from 2020 through 2023. The overall goal was to collect critical information to help inform educators, colleges, corrections officials, and policymakers about the magnitude of the pandemic's overall impact and its effects on access to education programs.

This news article from Open Campus describes the experiences of an incarcerated student using an illicit cell phone to take college courses from prison. The person interviewed is incarcerated in the South and currently works as a hospice volunteer and mentors justice-involved young adults. No identifying information is included in order to protect him from potential consequences for possessing a contraband cell phone.

This news article from Open Campus discusses the compounding issues of technology troubles inside prisons. When prison tech stops working, those inside are left with limited recourse.

In this news article from Open Campus, four formerly incarcerated people share their experiences with Pell Grants prior to 1994—when Congress eliminated access to federal financial aid for incarcerated students. Their stories have been edited for length and clarity.

This resource from Jobs for the Future (JFF) can help postsecondary institutions capitalize on existing national data sources to obtain information on prison education programs and students.

In this resource, overviews for the following data sources are provided:

• Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS)
• Federal Student Aid (FSA) data
• Program for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies (PIAAC) Survey of Incarcerated Adults
• Education Justice Tracker (EJT)
• National Student Clearinghouse (NSC)
• National Directory of Higher Education in Prison Programs