Rural community colleges could get a financial boost from restoration of Pell grant access to prisoners

Newly restored federal funding for prison education could benefit not only prisoners, but rural colleges and the communities around them (since prisons are disproportionately in rural areas).

Higher education programs in prison have been scarce for the past 16 years "because the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994 (commonly referred to as the 1994 crime bill), which was sponsored by then-Sen. Joe Biden and achieved bipartisan support, prevented incarcerated people from accessing Pell Grants, which was the primary funding source for prison education," Anya Slepyan reports for The Daily Yonder. President Obama began and President Trump expanded a program to restore Pell Grant access to select prisons, including dozens in rural areas, and in December Congress voted to restore full access by 2023 to an estimated 463,000 eligible prisoners.

Prisoners and taxpayers benefit from such programs in multiple ways: The presence of the programs reduces violence within prisons, and a college education could help create upward mobility for the former prisoners' families and break generational poverty cycles. Also, "participants are 48 percent less likely to return to prison after being released, and the Vera Institute estimates that providing postsecondary opportunities to incarcerated people could reduce state prison spending around the country by $365.8 million annually," Slepyan reports. "Other studies show that as an investment, 'prison education is almost twice as cost-effective as incarceration,' and that taxpayers save $4-5 for every $1 spent on prison education. This is partially because earning a college degree in prison open opportunities for returning citizens who are often locked out of employment and further educational opportunities through background checks and other hiring policies that discriminate against the formerly incarcerated."

Rural colleges benefit because prisoners' tuition gives them much-needed funding, which could enable them to not only stay open, but possibly expand programs or hire new instructors. That means more jobs and educational opportunities for non-incarcerated locals too, an appealing prospect for rural community colleges where enrollment has tanked during the pandemic.

Now that funding is restored, "rural colleges around the country are gearing up to provide higher education opportunities to incarcerated students," Slepyan reports. "Many of the colleges are focusing on providing degrees that will lead to practical career paths for incarcerated students."