The programs got extraordinary results. Even accounting for selection bias, countless studies have demonstrated their efficacy in reducing the risk of recidivism — by 43 percent according to a report from the RAND Corporation. Still, in 1994, amid a tough-on-crime frenzy, Congress voted to keep people in prison from receiving Pell Grants — saving a mere $35 million per year as those same legislators directed more than $7 billion toward building new prisons. The ban decimated the field nationwide.
College-in-prison saves money and reduces crime. That is why the coalition that has come to support it is unusually broad and bipartisan. It includes conservative evangelicals, liberal academics, allies of the Koch and Soros philanthropic networks, leaders in business and education, progressive criminal justice reformers and prominent members of law enforcement. The process of restoring federal funding began under the Obama administration and was completed by President Donald Trump.
If you’re confused about why Congress would remove education from departments of “correction,” you’re not alone. Since the late 1990s, despite the loss of Pell Grants, a patchwork of boutique and pilot programs — established by religious communities, advocates, students on college campuses and, most of all, incarcerated people themselves — has grown from a tiny number to dozens in recent years. North Carolina, Ohio and Texas have hosted programs for decades. California and New Jersey have re-established statewide systems. New York has an extraordinary, diverse network of partnerships that replicates the diversity of college across the state. And, inspired by Catholic mission, Holy Cross College and the University of Notre Dame, Boston College and Villanova have led the way in their red, blue and purple home states.
At the Bard Prison Initiative, where I work, 20 percent of bachelor’s degree candidates complete degrees in math and science at the same level as students on campus who come from elite high schools around the world. Incarcerated students majoring in history or literature all write original senior theses that are typically 100 pages in length. Students excel in the fields of public health and the social sciences, and the Debate Union has defeated teams from Cambridge, Morehouse and Harvard, among others. They study Mandarin, German or Spanish, computer science and the arts. After release, alumni have gone on to complete graduate degrees at universities including Columbia, Yale, N.Y.U., Cornell and Georgetown. They now hold decision-making positions in government agencies and major philanthropies, they own businesses and serve their communities, and, among many other roles, they are crucial voices in the effort to reshape our criminal justice system. Within two months of release, our research indicates, 85 percent are employed.
This kind of education can exist in prisons nationwide. But to achieve it we must invest. Pell Grants, which average less than $4,500, never covered the cost even for modest programs. Success requires state-level spending, too. Last year New York ended its 26-year ban on state tuition assistance for incarcerated people. Next year, we hope others will follow. If states want less recidivism and better outcomes after prison, they cannot invest in punishment alone.