A new study sought to determine the effects of a college-in-prison program, the Bard Prison Initiative (BPI). The study found a large and significant reduction in recidivism rates across racial groups among those who participated in the program.
The number of higher education programs based in state prisons is growing. Graduates say that the programs offer opportunities for emotional growth and help them build stronger interpersonal relationships.
The Daily Yonder Federal Funding for Incarcerated Students Returns to Rural Colleges After Two Decades Comprehensive and practical in-prison education is often a bridge to employment on the outside and a means of achieving lower rates of recidivism.
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Back in 2015, President Obama created the Second Chance Pell Grant Pilot Program, which selected higher ed institutions around the country to implement higher education programs in prisons within their service area. In this photograph, Barack Obama s Education Secretary Arne Duncan, center, speaks with inmates Alphonso Coates, bottom right, and Kenard Johnson, both participants in the Goucher College Prison Education Partnership at Maryland Correctional Institution-Jessup, on Friday, July 31, 2015, in Jessup, Maryland. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)