Deciding the rules of the game
What you need to know about the public comments on proposed rules for Pell Grants for incarcerated students.
College, clemency, and inside voices
Welcome to College Inside, a newsletter about the future of postsecondary education in prisons. I’m Charlotte West, a…
‘Leave your culture and assumptions at the door’
As prison-based education programs slowly return, many newly inspired educators are unknowingly about to walk into a foreign land. Two incarcerated students have a guide.
‘Nothing academic is offered here’
Incarcerated people in less than a third of state and federal prisons have access to postsecondary education.
When mass incarceration and student debt intersect
What you need to know about proposed rules for restoring Pell Grant eligibility for people in prison and new research on the effects of imprisonment on student debt.
Education often plays a big role in clemency decisions. Should it?
Johnny Pippins has already completed a master’s degree from prison. To pursue a Ph.D., he needs Illinois' governor to let him out early.
Who deserves mercy?
Why I was drawn to the story of Johnny Pippins, and what it reveals about big issues in our criminal-justice system.
Scholarship behind bars
How incarcerated students produce research, plus new initiatives to increase access to academic resources in prison.
The legal education edition
Twenty-eight years ago, 62 incarcerated students at the Louisiana State Penitentiary received certificates in paralegal studies and computer technology. They were the last class to graduate before Congress eliminated prisoners' eligibility for Pell Grants.
The last class, 28 years later
What happened to the last of the Pell Grant-funded prison higher ed graduates and their paralegal skills?