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WASHINGTON (AP) — Some federal and state prison inmates could be eligible for federal grants to take college courses while still behind bars.
Education Secretary Arne Duncan and Attorney General Loretta Lynch announced the pilot program involving federal Pell grants during a visit today to the Maryland Correctional Institution in Jessup, Maryland.
The program will allow, on a temporary basis, federal grants to be used to cover college costs for prisoners for the first time since Congress excluded them from student aid in 1994. It will last three to five years and be open to prisoners who are eligible for release, particularly within the next five years. Inmates could be eligible for the money as early as the fall of 2016.
Duncan says, "America is a nation of second chances." He says, "Giving people who have made mistakes in their lives a chance to get back on track and become contributing members of society is fundamental to who we are."
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APPHOTO MDPS102: Education Secretary Arne Duncan, center, and U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch listen to inmates participating in the Goucher College Prison Education Partnership at Maryland Correctional Institution-Jessup, Friday, July 31, 2015, in Jessup, Md. After a roundtable discussion at the prison, the Education Department announced Friday that it would conduct a limited pilot program to give prisoners access to the Pell grants, allowing them to take college courses behind bars. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky) (31 Jul 2015)
<<APPHOTO MDPS102 (07/31/15)££
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