FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 28, 2024

Contact: Hannah Eddy, Heddy@vera.org

NEW YORK, NY - Today, the Vera Institute of Justice (Vera) released The First Year of Pell Restoration: A Snapshot of Quality, Equity, and Scale in Prison Education Programs. The first nationwide assessment of its kind, the report provides valuable insight into each state/jurisdiction’s strengths and weaknesses as corrections agencies and their college partners work to launch new prison education programs (PEPs) under federal regulations that took effect on July 1, 2023.

The restoration of Pell Grant eligibility for people in prison mobilized colleges, corrections agencies, state higher education offices, and advocates across the country to lay the groundwork necessary for the expansion of postsecondary education in prison. As reported in The First Year of Pell Restoration report, all states, the Bureau of Prisons, and Puerto Rico now have a process in place for assessing PEP proposals from colleges. Colleges interested in launching a PEP that utilizes Pell Grant funds must first gain approval from the state corrections agency or oversight entity, after which the college’s accreditor must approve the PEP and finally, the U.S. Department of Education (ED). Based on Vera’s technical assistance work, more than 50 new PEPs have been approved by corrections agencies in the last year and currently await ED review.

Despite these encouraging signs, considerable challenges persist. To date, only one PEP has been approved by ED and no state scored the highest category across all the metrics. The information shared through The First Year of Pell Restoration report should thus provide colleges and corrections agencies with a roadmap for improvement and encourage stakeholders to plan for robust implementation. Vera hopes that as jurisdictions enter the subsequent years of Pell restoration, colleges and corrections agencies will hold themselves, and each other, to ever higher standards.

“It’s been 30 years since college was consistently available in prison. We are at the cusp of a new era of opportunity. Building out quality higher education in prisons will take time but based on our findings, we’re on our way,” said Ruth Delaney, director of Vera’s Unlocking Potential initiative. “While the report highlights many areas for improvement, it also shows that innovation is happening in all kinds of states—from red to blue, with prison populations that range in size and demographic makeup. We’re eager to see how the quality and equity of opportunities offered in prison improve as more prison education programs gain approval and launch in the years ahead.”

Background

Access to college in prison has begun to rebound from the effects of the 1994 Crime Bill, which banned incarcerated people’s eligibility for Pell Grants and resulted in a steep drop in the number of college programs operating in prisons, from more than 770 in the early 1990s to only eight by 1997. In 2016, ED launched the Second Chance Pell Experimental Sites Initiative (SCP) to examine the benefits of offering postsecondary education in prison and tapped Vera to deliver technical assistance to participating colleges and corrections agencies. Vera was part of a coalition that advocated for a federal law that would repeal the ban on Pell Grants and reinstate them; the law passed in December 2020. Due to the policy change, which took effect on July 1, 2023, the Second Chance Pell Experiment has concluded.

The First Year of Pell Reinstatement includes the final outcomes from the Second Chance Pell Experiment (academic year 2022 to 2023). Between 2016 and 2023, more than 45,000 people in prison have enrolled in college and earned more than 18,000 credentials through SCP. Vera is continuing to support SCP colleges as they transition to meet the new PEP regulations and with corrections agencies as they establish processes to review new PEPs and strategically expand access to postsecondary education in prisons.

Vera estimates that more than 750,000 people in prison—about two-thirds of the prison population—may be eligible for Pell Grants, and surveys indicate that more than 70 percent of those in prison are interested in postsecondary education. Widespread access to postsecondary education in prison makes corrections facilities safer for the people who live and work in prisons, improves students’ sense of self-worth, reduces the odds of recidivism, increases graduates’ employment and earning potential on release, and ultimately advances racial equity in our communities while saving taxpayers money.

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About the Vera Institute of Justice:
The Vera Institute of Justice is powered by hundreds of advocates, researchers, and policy experts working to transform the criminal legal and immigration systems until they’re fair for all. Founded in 1961 to advocate for alternatives to money bail in New York City, Vera is now a national organization that partners with impacted communities and government leaders for change. We develop just, antiracist solutions so that money doesn’t determine freedom; fewer people are in jails, prisons, and immigration detention; and everyone is treated with dignity. Vera’s headquarters is in Brooklyn, New York, with offices in Washington, DC, New Orleans, and Los Angeles. For more information, visit vera.org.