Federal Pell Grants for inmates return, opening new possibilities for prison education program

In Michigan, roughly 22% of the state’s formerly incarcerated population end up back behind bars. Education can impact recidivism. A study from Emory University shows that recidivism rates drop to less than 14% after earning an associate degree, down to 5.6% after earning a bachelor’s degree, and nearly 0% with a master’s degree. More opportunities for returning citizens to learn in prison became accessible in July when Federal Pell Grants became available to the incarcerated again.
“This is a gamechanger. Across the country, we could see three-quarters of a million people go back to college who are incarcerated, and those people are very unlikely to return to prison once they’re released,” Dr. Richard Ray, a professor at Hope College involved with the Prison Education Program, said.
During the 90s, harsher sentences grew the nation’s prison populations and Federal Pell Grants were eliminated for the incarcerated. Hundreds of programs vanished. Today, however, two Michigan colleges have been seeing success from their college prison initiatives, providing an education to people in prison so they’re better equipped to re-enter society.
The Calvin Prison Initiative, from Calvin University in Grand Rapids, has been running its prison education program at Handlon Correctional Facility in Ionia since 2015. Hope College and Western Theological Seminary teamed up to start its Hope-Western Prison Education Program in 2019, serving the inmates at the Muskegon Correctional Facility. They hope that more Michigan colleges and universities will join their efforts to educate Michigan’s prison populations.
One Detroit contributor Mario Bueno, who was formerly incarcerated, and senior producer BIll Kubota teamed up to explore how these college prison programs are helping the incarcerated prepare for jobs when they’re released.
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Opportunities for community college training certificates and trade schools should also be provided. Each individual should receive job training and on completion of their term they should have job placement in their field. Along with job placement, social workers should help with housing, transportation and meals to start these individuals on the path to becoming valued members of the community. Not only do the individuals benefit, but our society benefits.