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Higher education opportunities in Florida’s prisons are hard to come by. Today, only around 326 students are enrolled in college programs in Florida prisons, according to data provided by colleges. That’s only a tiny fraction of the more than 80,000 people incarcerated in the state. Ten sites offer college programs, including one reentry center and a privately run prison.
James “Sneaky” White, 80, spent nearly four decades incarcerated in California. His nickname “Sneaky” comes from his days as a helicopter pilot during the Vietnam War. While he was incarcerated, he helped create a college program that has since graduated more than 1,500 men. At the time, San Quentin was the only other prison in the state where incarcerated people could earn degrees.
This news article highlights the work of one of the first incarcerated professors in the country, David Carillo, who teaches incarcerated students in an undergraduate business program for Adams State University. He makes the same salary as any adjunct teaching on campus.
Postsecondary institutions can capitalize on existing national data sources to obtain information on prison education programs (PEP) and students. This resource provides a brief overview of the following data sources:
This news article focuses on the experiences of Lyle C. May, a prison journalist in North Carolina. Lyle writes about how gaining access to education on death row gave him the tools to fight back against policies that restricted that access.
This article from Reuters announces the graduation of the first class of incarcerated students from Northwestern University's Prison Education Program on November 15, 2023.
In this single-volume book, a group of incarcerated women at the Indiana Women’s Prison have assembled a chronicle of what was originally known as the Indiana Reformatory Institute for Women and Girls, founded in 1873 as the first separate prison for women in the United States.
When prison tech stops working, those inside are left with limited recourse.
In this radio segment from NPR and WBUR's Here & Now, Deepa Fernandes speaks with Jennifer Lackey, the founding director of the Northwestern Prison Education Program. This segment runs approximately 8 minutes and 50 seconds.
A newsletter about the future of postsecondary education in prisons. This edition focuses on technology.
This news article highlights takeaways from the National Conference for Higher Education in Prison (NCHEP).
This news article 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 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 article is a guest essay written in the New York Times by Max Kenner, founder and executive director of the Bard Prison Initiative at Bard College. Mr. Kenner argues that the FAFSA Simplification Act "has the potential to do more good within U.S. prisons than any policy in a generation." But, he continues, the work has just begun.
This article from USA Today discusses the expansion of Pell Grants, which were eliminated in the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994 for incarcerated people and ended the majority of prison education programs.
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.
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.
On October 28, 2022, the United States Department of Education (USDE) published final regulations that provide a framework for how to implement Pell reinstatement and ensure highquality postsecondary education in correctional facilities. The regulations will take effect on July 1, 2023. Specifically, the FAFSA Simplification Act, passed on December 27, 2020, restored Pell Grant eligibility for incarcerated students.
This report summarizes the impact of BPI’s work on prison and education policy and the lives of the individuals who participate in and graduate from their programs.