From: POLITICO Pro Education <politicoemail@...>
Sent: Wednesday, February 13, 2019 3:29 PM
To: Kimberly Hefling <khefling@...>
Subject: Pilot program allowing Pell Grants for prisoners re-upped for a 4th year

 

Pilot program allowing Pell Grants for prisoners re-upped for a 4th year

By Kimberly Hefling

02/13/2019 03:27 PM EDT

The Education Department has approved for another year a pilot program created by the Obama administration that allows prisoners to use Pell Grants to pay for higher education programs, a department official said Wednesday.

Sean Addie, the department's director of Correctional Education, said during a congressional briefing that the fourth year of the program will start July 1.

The Obama administration used its experimental sites authority under the Higher Education Act to create the "Second Chance Pell" program, which began issuing funds in 2016. In doing so, prisoners could use Pell Grants for the first time since Congress in 1994 forbid the practice as part of a larger crime bill during an era known for "tough on crime" policies.

Typically, Addie said these types of experimental programs last from three to five years. He did not offer insight into why the department chose to renew the program. But last year, Education Secretary Betsy DeVos said letting prisoners use Pell Grants is "a very good and interesting possibility."

Liz Hill, a department spokesperson, said in an email that the department does not yet have enough data to evaluate the efficacy of the pilot program.

"But we don't want to deny any student the opportunity to receive the education they want and need while we wait to get conclusive results. We believe that this population is worth the investment while we continue to evaluate the program," Hill said.

The congressional briefing was organized by the Association of Community College Trustees, the American Association of Community Colleges, and the Los Angeles Community College District.

The groups are encouraging Congress to change the law that bans Pell Grants from being used by prisoners as part of the reauthorization of the Higher Education Act under consideration by Congress. They said it benefits the individuals as well as the communities where they live since more 90 percent of those incarcerated are released.

Backers of the law change have been encouraged that Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) and Rep. Bobby Scott (D-Va.) — leaders of the education committees in their respective chambers — have both backed changing the law.

There also appears to be a bipartisan appetite to improve the nation's criminal justice policies, as evidenced by the criminal justice reform bill, S. 756 (115), President Donald Trump signed late last year that increased funding for prison education programs and equalized sentences for drug offenses involving crack cocaine and powder cocaine.

During the first school year of the pilot, 8,500 students were awarded $13.2 million in Pell Grant funds, Addie said. He said that grew to 11,000 students awarded $22 million in the second school year, and so far this school year 10,000 students have received about $13.4 million.

Ruth Delaney, a program manager with the Vera Institute of Justice, a nonprofit that provides technical support to colleges and correctional facilities participating in the pilot, said more than 1,000 certificates, associate's degrees and bachelor's degrees have been awarded to participating students. She said more than 60 schools in 27 states are participating.

Delaney said making prison education more widely available to prisoners has the potential to be a "disruptor of mass incarceration" and she said she was hopeful that Congress would lift the ban on providing Pell Grants to prisoners.

 

 

Brian Walsh

Center for Sentencing and Corrections, Senior Program Associate

Vera Institute of Justice

(646) 599-4614