A program piloted by Clarendon College three years ago has been renewed and expanded by the US Department of Education.
CC is one of 64 colleges nationwide and one of only seven in Texas in 2016 to host the Second Chance Pell program, which allows incarcerated Americans to access Pell Grants to pursue post-secondary education.
CC President Robert Riza says the program has proven its effectiveness and CC’s funding for the program has gone up from $101,000 in 2018 to $140,000 this year and has helped 151 students in Pampa and Childress.
“If you can spend $10,000 to get these students and education, it’s better than spending $40,000 per year to incarcerate them,” Riza said. “That’s not liberal or conservative; that’s just math. The recidivism rate of someone who earns an education credential drops to single digits.”
Education Secretary Betsy DeVos announced recently that the government will expand the Second Chance Pell experiment by allowing new cohorts of colleges and universities to participate. This important experiment has already provided a number of students with new educational opportunities that prepare them for college and workplace success.
“We are eager to expand the Second Chance Pell experiment, which has shown significant promise,” said Secretary DeVos.
“We hope that through this expansion, we can reach more students and utilize the information gathered to better inform Congress about future updates to the Higher Education Act.”
Clarendon is the only community college is West Texas to be included in the program, Riza said. It is funded through the federal government, and the money is handled through the college’s financial aid office.
“President Trump supports this, and the state supports it,” Riza said. “They know the program is successful.”
The program started with the Obama Administration’s commitment to creating a fairer and more effective criminal justice system, reduce recidivism, and combat the impact of mass incarceration on families and communities through educational opportunity.
The US has the highest incarceration rate in the world with approximately 2.2 million people incarcerated in American prisons and jails. Hundreds of thousands of individuals are released annually from these facilities. A Department of Justice-funded 2013 study found that individuals who participated in correctional education were 43 percent less likely to return to prison within three years than those who did not participate in any correctional education programs.
Through the Second Chance Pell pilot program, institutions may provide Federal Pell Grants to qualified students who are incarcerated and are likely to be released within five years of enrolling in coursework.
In addition to traditional classes, Clarendon College is trying to expand career and technical training opportunities to local prisons as well, Riza said.
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