The Bard Prison Initiative and its students and alumni/ae have helped change the national landscape for incarcerated students. In December, Congress restored Pell Grant access for people in prison. The decision came after nearly three decades of advocacy by students, families, prison reform groups, and educational institutions, including BPI. The stories of BPI students and graduates, recently amplified by the PBS documentary
College Behind Bars, have helped sway public opinion and national policy. “Since the ’94 [Crime] Bill, restoration of Pell eligibility in prison has been the North Star for our field,” said BPI executive director Max Kenner ’01 in a letter to supporters. “The new legislation restores the possibility of college-in-prison nationally. It is a victory decades in the making.”
This article from the
Chronicle of Higher Education covers the response to the new legislation, which could make nearly half a million people in prison eligible for the need-based education grants. Even as BPI and its partners in the field celebrated the victory, leaders advised caution. Quality will be crucial as new prison education programs roll out to meet demand, said Kenner. “This isn’t a space for colleges to be profiteering in. It is a space where they can engage students and communities they have historically neglected.”
Post Date: 01-05-2021
