Criminal convictions come with consequences that can be devastating for people already living on the margins of society. Even a misdemeanor conviction can create barriers to employment and housing, two major factors that impact one’s ability to turn their life around. Another critical factor is education, which studies have linked to drastic reductions in recidivism. However, for more than fifty years, the U.S. Congress restricted student aid to punish people with convictions on their record, effectively eliminating educational opportunities for those who would benefit most from higher education.
Education is inextricably linked to reduced recidivism rates. Studies consistently show people who leave prison with a college degree are overwhelmingly more likely to have a successful reentry. A 1995 study showed inmates in the South Carolina correction system who did not have college degrees were nearly nine times more likely to reoffend than those inmates who had earned degrees, with a recidivism rate of merely 4% for those college graduates.1 In 2021, the Washington State Institute for Public Policy (WSIPP) reviewed the effectiveness of correctional education; it estimated for every $1 invested in access to such education, the state would realize $20 in benefits from correctional college programs.2
In 1968, Congress started passing laws which restrict people with convictions from accessing educational opportunities by excluding them from federal student aid.3 The first targets were student protesters. The Higher Education Amendments of 1968 eliminated federal aid eligibility for two years for anyone convicted of crimes involving “substantial disruption of administration” of “any institution of higher education.”4 This financial aid ban was deleted from the law with the enactment of the Education Amendments of 1980.5
Congress shifted its focus to people with drug convictions, passing the 1988 Anti-Drug Abuse Act, which allowed state and federal judges to bar such individuals from receiving federal benefits including student aid.6 Congress then passed laws excluding all incarcerated people from accessing any federal student aid in 1992 and 1994.7 In 1998, Congress turned to students with drug convictions, passing the Higher Education Amendments of 1998 which banned aid eligibility for anyone with a prior drug conviction. The ACLU criticized the new law, pointing out that “[i]f a student is convicted of a drug offense and her family can afford to pay for college, she will be unaffected by the legislation, while those who are already in danger of being forced to society’s margins will be further disempowered.”8 Congress narrowed this restriction in 2006, making it applicable only to students whose drug convictions occurred while they were receiving federal aid.9 Two years later, Congress passed its last restriction on access to student aid, the 2008 Higher Education Opportunity Act, which eliminated Pell Grant eligibility for people subject to involuntary civil commitment for sexual offenses.10
Today, criminal convictions do not impact student aid eligibility. The “Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2021,” signed into law in December 2020, restored Pell Grant access to inmates and repealed laws mandating aid eligibility restrictions for people with drug convictions.11 The Democrat-controlled U.S. House of Representatives gained enough momentum for criminal justice reform to pass this legislation even with a Republican majority in the Senate and the forty-fifth president in the White House.
Although incarceration remains an obstacle to student loan access, prisoners are eligible to receive Pell Grants, which are need-based and can cover tuition. Since the 2021 rollback of federal student aid restrictions, higher education programs have rapidly returned to prisons. This uptick is in part due to the funding and support of the Biden Administration. Under current law, 760,000 people in prisons across the country became eligible for Pell Grants in 2021, and, the U.S. Department of Education said that approximately 30,000 new grant recipients will receive approximately $130 million in financial aid per year.12 However, more work remains to be done.
Congress and the White House must continue to increase access to education for inmates. As correctional education programs rapidly expand, the restriction on student loan access for inmates remains a significant barrier for inmates who cannot otherwise afford non-tuition expenses and fees, which have become increasingly burdensome in recent years.
Decades of research have demonstrated access to education is a critical factor in positive outcomes and successful reentry; investment in correctional college education programs yields an estimated twenty-fold return; and these programs have a momentous impact on recidivism rates. If we look at issues of crime and community safety through this lens, it becomes evident inmates are not the only stakeholders who benefit from higher education. We all benefit when we enable and encourage people to respond to the adversity of incarceration by finding productive paths forward.
Mr. Valdez is the Records Project Legal Assistant and Pro Bono Services Program Coordinator.
1 Stevens, Dennis J., and Charles S. Ward. “College Education and Recidivism: Educating Criminals Is Meritorious.” Journal of Correctional Education, vol. 48, no. 3, 1997, pp. 106–11. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/23292084
2 Knoth, L., & Fumia, D. Postsecondary Program participation and completion patterns among individuals incarcerated in Washington State prisons. Document Number 21-06-1901, Washington State Institute for Public Policy, June 2021.
3 Custer, Bradley D. “Federal Financial Aid for College Students with Criminal Convictions.” Center for American Progress, 17 December 2020, https://www.americanprogress.org/article/
federal-financial-aid-college-students-criminal-
convictions/. Accessed 4 August 2023.
4 Custer, Bradley D. “The History of Denying Federal Financial Aid to System-Impacted Students,” Journal of Student Financial Aid: Vol. 50 : Iss. 1 , Article 2. 11 February 2021.; Higher Education Amendments of 1968, Pub. L. 90-575. 16 Oct. 1968. Stat. 82
5 Id.; Education Amendments of 1980, Pub. L. 96-374. 8 Oct. 1980. Stat. 94.1367
6 Id.
7 Id.
8 “Injustice 101: Higher Education Act Denies Financial Aid to Students with Drug Convictions.” American Civil Liberties Union, 14 June 2002, https://www.aclu.org/documents/injustice-
101-higher-education-act-denies-financial-aid-
students-drug-convictions. Accessed 7 August 2023.
9 Custer, Bradley D. “Federal Financial Aid for College Students with Criminal Convictions.” Center for American Progress, 17 December 2020, https://www.americanprogress.org/article/
federal-financial-aid-college-students-criminal-
convictions/. Accessed 4 August 2023.
10 Id., Custer, Bradley D. “The History of Denying Federal Financial Aid to System-Impacted Students,” Journal of Student Financial Aid: Vol. 50 : Iss. 1 , Article 2. 11 February 2021.
11 Martinez-Hill, Juan. “A Monumental Shift: Restoring Access to Pell Grants for Incarcerated Students.” Vera Instituted of Justice, February 2021, https://www.vera.org/downloads/publications/
restoring-access-to-pell-grants-for-incarcerated-
students.pdf. Accessed 8 August 2023.
12 Turner, Nicholas. “More Than Half a Million People in Prison May Soon Be Able to Afford College.” Vera Instituted of Justice, 23 August 2022.; Morrison, Aaron. “5 Takeaways from AP’s Reporting on Pell Grants for Prisoners Getting College Degrees.” Associated Press, 28 June 2023, https://apnews.com/article/prison-pell-grant-college-
education-9f02dd460d02ab26d4b95f33f80e36b9. Access 8 August 2023.
