NCJ Number
184116
Journal
Journal of Offender Rehabilitation Volume: 31 Issue: 1/2 Dated: 2000 Pages: 43-56
Date Published
2000
Length
14 pages
Annotation
A survey of the directors of adult education programming in all 50 States and the District of Columbia sought information on the current status of post-secondary correctional education (PSCE) 3 years after the elimination of State and Federal inmates’ eligibility for Pell entitlement grants starting in the 1995-96 academic year.
Abstract
The survey took place in the fall of 1998. Responses came from 48 States. Requested data focused on the size of PSCE programming in the particular system, perceptions regarding the impact of elimination of Pell Grant eligibility, perceptions regarding PSCE program stability, and sources of funding for PSCE programming. The questionnaire asked directors to report all data for the 1997-98 academic year. Results revealed that the elimination of Pell Grant eligibility for incarcerated students has had a substantial negative impact on the PSCE program and the men and women who enroll in PSCE. Four-fifths of State correctional systems offered PSCE opportunities in the last year of Pell Grant eligibility for inmates; just over half provided the same option 3 academic years later. Programming scope dropped form 67 percent offering associate degree programs to only 37 percent offering the same option. Half the States offered baccalaureate degrees previously; only 20 percent did so in 1997-98. Most important, the percentage of inmates participating in PSCE continued to drop, as did the percentage of eligible inmates who actually enroll in PSCE programs. Findings also suggested that the surviving PSCE programs may be stabilizing somewhat as they recover from the initial blow dealt by the Pell Grant elimination; future trends are unclear, however. 54 references