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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsHelping Inmates Pay For College Could Dramatically Reduce Incarceration
Helping Inmates Pay For College Could Dramatically Reduce IncarcerationBy Hayley Munguia
http://fivethirtyeight.com/datalab/obama-pell-grants-prisons/
SNIP................
Recent attempts to reduce the U.S. prison population have focused on reforming mandatory minimum sentencing and reclassifying crimes, but the Obama administration wants to expand reform efforts to prisoner education. Education Secretary Arne Duncan and Attorney General Loretta Lynch are expected to unveil a program Friday that will offer Pell grants financial aid for college courses that doesnt need to be repaid to some inmates as part of an experimental pilot program.
Congress banned the use of Pell grants by prisoners in 1994. But Democrats in the House of Representatives introduced a bill in May to reinstate prisoners eligibility for the grants, which can amount to as much as $5,775 for the 2015-16 school year. Anticipating Duncan and Lynchs announcement, a Republican congressman introduced a bill late Wednesday that would forbid the Education Department from providing higher education funding to prisoners for experimental purposes.
But amid a national discussion on mass incarceration, researchers say correctional education programs can improve the employment rate for offenders after theyre released and reduce the chance theyll offend again.
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We looked at the direct cost of prison education versus the cost of reincarceration, and we were able to show that every dollar spent on prison education saves taxpayers four to five dollars on reincarceration costs, Davis said in an interview Wednesday. And thats a conservative estimate.
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pipoman
(16,038 posts)College will not get a convict hired most places. Some sort of technical skills training I can see....a felon with an MBA is unemployable.
applegrove
(118,696 posts)MBA could result in self employment. The point is you are opening more doors.
aikoaiko
(34,172 posts)It really hurt poor students
applegrove
(118,696 posts)gerrymandering will come to fruition soon and stop legislation like that from getting through congress.
davidpdx
(22,000 posts)The college tuition they are talking about is likely for community colleges for an associate's or bachelor's degree, not master's degrees. If providing rehabilitation for inmates can keep inmates out of prison and reduce costs, then by all means it is worth it. The inmates would probably have to finish their degree once they were released.
There is no reason we can't fight for rehabilitation and relief for those who have student loans. We are suppose to be progressives, not regressive.
pipoman
(16,038 posts)For those who have done nothing but try to do well in school.
davidpdx
(22,000 posts)If I told you the amount of my student loans you'd faint (and if you really want to know send me a PM and I'll tell you). No one wants student loan relief more than I do. Which is why I support the work Senator Warren is doing in the Senate. We need to keep pushing for that.
Neither of these are mutually exclusive though.
Much like President Obama worked to reform health care, education needs the same. Why not provide master's and doctorate students the opportunity to teach at prisons in exchange for free tuition? Those of us who have student loans could teach at a prison and have part of our debt forgiven.
There are a number of ways it could work, but it would still require some kind of funding mechanism.
pipoman
(16,038 posts)And seen the challenges, reform of prison administration in this country would be the best money spent. Putting first time offenders in a position of being irreparably victimized by long time gang inmates perpetuates the prison revolving door. Education of inmates will not solve the problem of recidivism when between classes the student is victimized repeatedly...our prison system is broken badly.
davidpdx
(22,000 posts)but again is that incompatible with providing means of rehabilitation? When inmates get out if they have no skills what are they going to do? Answer: re-offend and create more victims. How about keeping people from going back to prison? Giving them a reason and the resources to change. Again, isn't that what progressives are suppose to be for?
angrychair
(8,702 posts)At the same time I don't feel it is appropriate to figure out a manner to pay for prisoners to go to school without debt when people like me are drowning in student loan debt with no hope and no way out. Even if I could, which I can not, pay on my loans, I have a payment schedule that has me paying until I am 70 years old.
So is my only real option to go to jail now?
davidpdx
(22,000 posts)Providing rehabilitation to inmates could very well keep them out of jail and allow them to finish their degree when they are released. It is possible they could get an associate's or bachelor's degree, but most likely the programs would be through community colleges and limited to those inmates that are below a certain classification and amount of time left before release.
I too will be paying on my student loans forever. In fact, I'd venture to guess my balance is quite a bit more than yours. Yet, I can still see this as a win-win situation.
angrychair
(8,702 posts)And I realize we can do both but the point is we are not. This program already has legs and most likely is going to happen in some form by the sound of it. Student loan relief is not even up for serious discussion and is unlikely.
I have 90+ thousand dollars with a 6.8% interest rate from the DOEd. The gov is intending to make a great deal of money off me. Spent the majority of my professional career in IT surrounded (many different types of jobs from help desk to server admin to project management) by people doing the same job as me with no degree. At this point (20 years of exp) a degree actually matters little. I enjoyed going to college but 14 years later I would be hard pressed to say it was worth it.
davidpdx
(22,000 posts)Yes, I know that student debt reform looks like it is deader than a door nail. We have to fight harder to get it back in the public eye. If something is not done soon there will be a student loan bubble and it will burst. They can only kick the can down the road so far until this turns into a catastrophe. We both know that.
a la izquierda
(11,795 posts)as well as those who are justly convicted (and non-violent). However...I have three degrees and six figures of debt for my BA, MA, and PhD. I teach the next generation of college graduates. I get paid shit to do so. Yet the Department of Education sees it fit to demand a quarter of my salary, regardless of my rent payments and other life-sustaining bills, plus the fact that the state of WV only pays me 9 months per year and taxes the hell out of me because the rest of the workers in this state are so poor.
And the first person to tell me to find a better paying job gets verbally eviscerated for not understanding how terrible the academic market is.
So forgive me if I'm not super sympathetic and supportive until we figure out a way to help out those of us who haven't broken the law.
TBF
(32,067 posts)we were not from wealthy families. Got some aid but not enough to cover everything. I'd much rather see interest rate cuts for law-abiding citizens before they start giving free tuition to inmates. This is the kind of thing that will flare up at election time and hurt democrats. Bad idea.
aikoaiko
(34,172 posts)I'm work at a university and I advise majors to not to pursue the PhD and the academic life. I push applied master's and doctoral programs. But if they insist I advise them to limit the loan debt to equal their expected starting salary (of course less it better). In my field that amounts 52,000 at 4-year state schools. Consolidated and refinanced over 20 years that is about $400/month.
If you're interested in staying in academia, then stick it out until tenure. I often advise new faculty to pursue professional development opportunities related to assessment and institutional effectiveness. There is good money in institutional effectiveness positions at colleges.
jwirr
(39,215 posts)s/he applies for that job. Most places do not hire an ex-con. So the bigotry will have to end for this to work.
Comrade Grumpy
(13,184 posts)angrychair
(8,702 posts)Addressing the real issue of the student loan debt crisis and the out of control costs in higher education. Speaking as one dramatically impacted by this issue I consider it one of the top 5 domestic policy issues and I expect to hear it from the candidate I cast a vote on.
Comrade Grumpy
(13,184 posts)LittleBlue
(10,362 posts)For the argument pipoman made in the first reply. Parents will look at their kids, struggling to pay off student loans, and wonder why criminals are getting grants.
Terrible idea politically, regardless of how effective it might be. The Republicans would destroy us.