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Higher Ed in Prisons
11 posts
The last class, 28 years later
What happened to the last of the Pell Grant-funded prison higher ed graduates and their paralegal skills?
First Person: Prison programs don’t quench the thirst for higher education
Prison education programs designed to teach life skills and heal trauma sell young people short if they don't include college offerings.
Student loan defaults are a big barrier to prison education. The government is offering new help.
The Education Department announced that it will bring defaulted loans into good standing, which could significantly expand access.
A second chance for a juvenile lifer
A Q&A with Andrew Hundley, who was sentenced to life in prison at 15, about prison cowboys and the value of education behind the bars.
First Person: ‘I wonder about comeback stories. Danny’s might be one.’
Danny’s journey was not like mine. It took almost nine years and nine different prisons — violence, solitary, violence, solitary — before he would enroll in a college program.
Pursuing a Ph.D. from prison
Two years ago Brandon Brown became the first person to earn a graduate degree while incarcerated in the state of Maine. Here's how he ended up in a doctoral program.
First Person: Ethnic studies taught me about my culture — and the system I’m locked inside
"Education," the 17-year-old writes, "is what saved me in desperate times."
A surprising barrier to college for Florida’s prison population
Being locked up in a Florida prison doesn’t make someone a Florida resident. And out-of-state tuition usually puts college out of reach.
First Person: Why college matters for people serving extreme sentences
"I needed a path to redemption in the eyes of my mother, my sons, and society that didn't involve going home," Rahsaan "New York" Thomas says. "I came up with becoming a writer because my voice was the one part of me that was still free."
First Person: ‘Eventually luck got a hold of me’
Even after the government gave up on college for prisoners, many private funders did not, Tomas Keen writes. They still play an indispensable role in filling the gaps.