This report from the Community College Journal of Research and Practice summarizes results from a critical mixed-methods case study of a mid-sized urban community college district. The case study uses publicly available data to compare these colleges’ explicit commitment to access and opportunity with their investments in surveillance, security, and enclosure. The authors argue that a school-prison nexus, or SPN (similar to what many refer to as the school-to-prison pipeline), is enacted well beyond PK-12 schools, in and through higher education.

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 brief is part of a series that highlights key issues and best practices discussed at Bridging the Gap: Postsecondary Pathways for Underprepared Learners. Other topics include support services to help underprepared students balance school and daily life, and engaging employers to help build effective pathways to work.

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.

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.

This 50-state comparison provides a look at the specific criteria employed in the top two largest aid programs by state. It includes details about which state programs are linked to measuring need through the federally calculated Estimated Family Contribution (EFC) or purely family income.

This policy analysis provides descriptive information about incarcerated youth populations, explores their educational challenges, reviews currently enacted state and federal policies designed to address their needs, and provides policy considerations for state governments.

This Special Report examines four principles for state leaders to consider as they develop or evaluate financial aid redesign reform efforts. The financial aid redesign principles, identified through a Thinkers Meeting that included experts from across the country, fall into four areas: Financial aid programs should be (1) student-centered, (2) goal-driven and data-informed, (3) timely and flexible, and (4) broadly inclusive.

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 compares the educational attainment of state and federal prison inmates, jail inmates, and probationers to that of the general population.

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.

These videos are presentations from a virtual convening in February 2021 of more than 100 attendees who explored the future of technology in postsecondary education in prison. The convening was produced by Open Campus Media with support from Ascendium. Participants included representatives of universities, advocacy groups, funders and state corrections systems.

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.