Research

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 report from the Prison Policy Initiative offers some much-needed clarity by piecing together the data about this country’s disparate systems of confinement. It provides a detailed look at where and why people are locked up in the U.S., and dispels some common myths about mass incarceration to focus attention on overlooked issues that urgently require reform.

This resource explores essential guidelines and best practices for data use agreements in postsecondary education in prison programs.

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

This report from the Prison Policy Initiative offers some much-needed clarity by piecing together the data about this country’s disparate systems of confinement. It provides a detailed look at where and why people are locked up in the U.S., and dispels some modern myths to focus attention on the real drivers of mass incarceration and overlooked issues that call for reform.

To understand the extent to which states provide incarcerated youth with access to educational and vocational services, track and use student outcome data, and support school reenrollment for these youth, The Council of State Governments Justice Center and the Council of Juvenile Correctional Administrators surveyed juvenile correctional agencies in all 50 states. 

This issue brief highlights the key findings of the survey and provides state and local policymakers with policy and practice recommendations to improve college and career readiness for incarcerated youth. The brief provides examples of how select states have translated these recommendations into policy and practice.

This participatory action research study, conducted by Michelle Fine, Alexis Halkovic (CUNY Graduate Center), and a team of research assistants, explores the lived experiences of people with criminal justice histories as they attend and contemplate enrolling in college. The report highlights the journeys of these students and considers a number of important questions: What does it take for people with criminal justice histories to successfully transform the trajectory of their lives? What are the obstacles they face? What affirmative steps can we take to make our public and private colleges and universities more welcoming to this growing population of students?

This report details the scope of CUNY’s policies and programs for students impacted by the criminal legal system and explores opportunities for CUNY to better support those students. As an engine for upward social mobility, CUNY is well positioned to promote the educational and professional advancement of students who have been historically denied access to higher education, especially students who have been involved in the criminal legal system. Higher education transforms lives, creates opportunities, and mitigates the collateral consequences of mass incarceration. This report should serve as a catalyst and foundation for developing a more comprehensive and integrated approach to welcoming and supporting students with past criminal legal system involvement at the country’s largest urban university system.

This fact sheet provides an update on outcomes—including expanding enrollment, course offerings, and degrees awarded—from the Second Chance Pell Experimental Sites Initiative. The initiative, launched by the U.S. Department of Education in 2015, provides need-based Pell Grants to people in state and federal prisons through partnerships with 65 colleges in 27 states. The Vera Institute of Justice has provided technical assistance to the participating colleges and corrections departments, helping to ensure that these programs are providing quality higher education both in prison and post-release.

This report synthesizes existing literature around higher education for formerly incarcerated individuals and describes the need for more work in this area. More than 650,000 individuals are released from state and federal prisons and return to the community each year. However, most programming and research have been concentrated on correctional education. As a result, formerly incarcerated individuals are largely not recognized as a student group needing support, programming, and research in the higher education space.

The Second Chance Pell Experimental Sites Initiative, launched by the U.S. Department of Education in 2015, provides need-based Pell Grants to people in state and federal prisons. Second Chance Pell has active partnerships with 64 colleges that teach in 28 states. The schools were selected in June 2016 for the initiative, which examines whether expanding access to financial aid increases incarcerated adults’ partici­pation in educational opportunities. The Vera Institute of Justice (Vera) is providing technical assistance to the participating colleges and corrections departments, helping to ensure that the programs provide quality higher education in prison and post-release. This policy brief summarizes survey data that 60 of the participating colleges submitted to Vera about the first three years of the project.

Access to education is in high demand among the incarcerated population. There are clear benefits to students who are incarcerated, their families and communities, public safety, and safety inside prisons. Yet the gap in educational aspirations and participation has been largely driven by a lack of capacity due to limited funding.

The Manhattan District Attorney’s Criminal Justice Investment Initiative funded the College-in-Prison Reentry Initiative (CIP) to close this gap by expanding access to college education in prisons throughout New York State. This fact sheet unpacks the impact of participation in degree programs offered by seven colleges participating in CIP and reveal the effects that college in prison can have on in-facility behavior, recidivism, employment, and income after release.

Access to education is in high demand among the incarcerated population. There are clear benefits to students who are incarcerated, their families and communities, public safety, and safety inside prisons. Yet the gap in educational aspirations and participation has been largely driven by a lack of capacity due to limited funding.

The Manhattan District Attorney’s Criminal Justice Investment Initiative funded the College-in-Prison Reentry Initiative (CIP) to close this gap by expanding access to college education in prisons throughout New York State. In this report, Vera Institute of Justice (Vera) researchers unpack the impact of participation in degree programs offered by seven colleges participating in CIP and reveal the effects that college in prison can have on in-facility behavior, recidivism, employment, and income after release. Vera additionally presents a cost analysis of program delivery and potential expansion, in order to better understand the potential return on investment of such initiatives.

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 Participants in Second Chance Pell study identified numerous challenges that they face in completing the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) and accessing Pell Grants in their current form. The challenges that study participants articulated are listed in the first column of the table in the linked document.

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 in 2015. This document lays out the most frequently asked questions and answers from student and alumni focus groups, using the best available information as of October 2022. The larger project from which these data are drawn, Exploring the Experiences of Participants in Second Chance Pell, is a mixed-methods research study examining the implementation and facilitation of the Second Chance Pell Experiment.

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.