College of Education

Should Pell Grants be used to fund college courses for prison inmates?

by Sharita Forrest / Jun 10, 2015

Rebecca Ginsburg, director of the Education Justice Project

Empowering incarcerated people is an investment in politically disenfranchised, economically marginalized communities, says Rebecca Ginsburg.

The U.S. Department of Education is considering an experimental waiver program that would allow educational institutions to use Pell Grants to fund courses for incarcerated students. The Education Justice Project, based in the College of Education at Illinois, offers a college-in-prison program to men incarcerated at Danville Correctional Center. 

Project director Rebecca Ginsburg, an associate professor in the Department of Education Policy, Organization and Leadership, spoke with Illinois News Bureau education editor Sharita Forrest about the role of education in prison reform.

Read the full article.

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