Fact Sheet on Prison & Education
70% of incarcerated people say they want to enroll in a class or academic program. (PIAAC Survey)
Only 4% of formerly incarcerated people hold a college degree. (Prison Policy Initiative)
Formerly incarcerated people are 8 times less likely to finish college than the general public. (Prison Policy Initiative)
People who complete a college program while incarcerated are 20% more likely to find a job after release. (Stickle & Schuster, 2023)
People who take part in correctional education programs are 43% less likely to return to prison. (RAND Corporation, 2014)
Tutoring is one of the most effective interventions in all of education—it outperforms 85% of other education programs studied. (Kraft & Falken, 2020)
2023 is the year Pell Grants—federal financial aid for college—were restored for incarcerated students after nearly 30 years. (Vera Institute of Justice)
California has more college-in-prison programs than any other state. (Alliance for Higher Education in Prison)
More than 1 million incarcerated people now have access to JSTOR's research library. (JSTOR Access in Prison)