Plenty of Californians are probably unaware that inmates in our state prisons are eligible for and in fact do enroll in college courses — and even take college degrees — while behind bars.
Others probably have a knee-jerk reaction to such news and would consider academic availability akin to mollycoddling felons who after all are in the Big House because they are being punished for serious crimes against society.
On reflection, all but the most callous would realize the enormous benefits to our common society that can come when we allow the incarcerated to get a formal higher education while they are in prison. And to make sure that what they get is of high quality.
Because the fact is most of them will be released in the near or medium term. And it’s in our interest as well as theirs that they come out with some book learning instead of just being schooled by scoundrels.
With that in mind, it’s heartening to see that California’s important Legislative Analyst’s Office — one of the most important objective voices for positive change in our state — has come out with a new, deep study on how to make college educations for inmates work better for all concerned.
Its report begins with some background: “Prior to 2014, California Community Colleges (CCC) tended to provide only correspondence courses at state prisons. This was because colleges could receive state funding only for courses that were open to the general public. In 2014, the state approved Chapter 695 (SB 1391, Hancock), which allowed community colleges to receive state funding for in-person courses at state prisons (even though those courses were closed to the general public).”
Because of that change, opportunities for inmates to study and work toward associate’s degrees have expanded greatly over the last decade: “CCC enrollment at state prisons increased markedly. Whereas about 1,400 full-time equivalent (FTE) students were enrolled in 2015-16, nearly 5,500 FTE students were enrolled in 2018-19 — reflecting a near quadrupling of enrollment within just four years.”
But the LAO notes problems, and that with problems, come opportunities. It’s clear that inmates who continue to only study by correspondence rather than in in-person classrooms do more poorly — fail to complete their work, “drop out,” as it were — than others. But, always properly data-driven, the LAO says that much more information needs to be unearthed about best practices for positive prisoner student outcome.
Despite California community colleges “spending tens of millions of dollars annually to support CCC programs in state prisons, the state does not link any of this funding to student success. (By comparison, the state links funding to student success for nearly all student groups outside of the prisons.) Another missed opportunity is that the state is not leveraging available federal funding for college education at prisons. A final problem we identified is that CCC programs at state prisons lack an evaluation component.”
And not enough priority is placed on getting students close to release their degrees — which are often in practical business-related fields — instead of using a first-come, first-served model.
Anecdotal evidence is strong that job prospects and reduced recidivism are strong for those released with community college degrees in hand. Again, more study is needed there. Bottom line: “Modify CCC funding formula to include a performance component. In the meantime, require CCC to report enrollment and outcomes data for incarcerated students.” Plus, “the state is missing an opportunity to draw down federal funds to support prison education costs. Begin charging incarcerated students to attend CCC and use federal Pell Grant funds to offset enrollment fees, textbooks, computers, and other allowable education costs.”
Crime shouldn’t pay. But we’ll all reap benefits when time spent behind bars is well-spent.