Clarendon College is one of 67 colleges and universities across the nation and one of nine from Texas chosen to participate in an experimental federal program offering Pell grants to prisoners.
The college is partnering with two Texas Panhandle prison units as part of the Obama administrations’ Second Chance Pell pilot program, which will provide grants to roughly 12,000 adults incarcerated in U.S. prisons.
Instructors from the school will work with 100 students eligible for the grants in the Texas Department of Criminal Justice’s Jordan Unit in Pampa and Roach Unit in Childress, offering them the opportunity to earn Associate in Arts or Associate in Science degrees.
Aimed at inmates who are eligible for release within the next five years, the Second Chance Pell pilot program is part of the Obama administration’s efforts to reduce recidivism and remove barriers to successful reentry.
“I think it will have a great impact on the offenders’ lives; they have an opportunity to make things better for themselves,” Clarendon College President Robert Riza said.
Courses will be administered via classroom-based instruction at the prison facilities and the college is also looking at interactive video conferences as another avenue.
Pell grants are need-based financial aid offered by the U.S. Federal Government to help low-income students afford tuition, books and fees.
Since congress passed an amendment to the Higher Education Act in 1994, prisoners have been barred from receiving such aid.
The announcement of the plan to give Pell grants to prisoners, which came last summer, drew criticism from some conservative lawmakers.
“This may be a worthwhile idea for some prisoners, but the administration absolutely does not have the authority to do this without approval from Congress,” U.S. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., said following the announcement.
The Education Department used its “experimental sites” authority, which allows the department to waive certain federal prohibitions for experimentation purposes, to create the grant program.
A 2013 RAND Corporation study funded by the Department of Justice found that inmates who took part in correctional education were 43 percent less likely to return to prison within three years than prisoners who did not.
Researchers estimated that for every dollar invested in correctional education, four to five dollars are saved on three-year reincarceration costs.
“The evidence is clear. Contracts with seven colleges, including Clarendon College and Amarillo College, were not renewed.
Clarendon College began offering courses again at Jordan Unit in 2014 and currently has about 50 students enrolled there.
Texas Inmate students by the numbers
Alvin Community College: 380 students
Cedar Valley College: 120 students
Clarendon College: 100 students
Lamar State College Port Arthur: 243 students
Lee College: 1,134 students
Mountain View College: 40 students
Southwest Texas Junior College: 142 students
University of Houston Clear Lake: 85 students
Wiley College: 300 students
Source: Department of Education
