Marina Bueno, an incarcerated writer, hopes to attend college but faces a harsh reality—no college classes are offered at her Florida women’s prison in Homestead. In fact, only 326 out of 80,000 state prisoners were enrolled in a college class as of January 2024.

Just three out of 28 state colleges (formerly known as community colleges or junior colleges) offer in-person programs, and no new prison education programs are planned —even though eligibility for Pell Grants was expanded to everyone in prison nationwide in July 2023, as PLN reported. [See: PLN, May 2022, p.44.] Though Bueno is incarcerated just 15 minutes away from Miami Dade College her chance of giving birth to twins is about the same as her chances of earning a college degree while in a Florida prison.

The state Department of Corrections (DOC) presents one hurdle, showing no interest in expanding three limited programs it operates; meanwhile studies show that education reduces recidivism and creates safer prisons. A lack of basic education programs also leaves many prisoners functionally illiterate, though at least 70% report wanting to continue their education.

Money is another problem frustrating prisoners seeking college education. Larry Fordham, Jr. could not afford to earn a college degree when he was denied low in-state Florida tuition rates because he couldn’t get 30-year-old documentation proving residency before his incarceration. Florida has an explicit ban on establishing residency while in state prisons, a policy the state Department of Education refuses to amend. Despite the obstacles, Fordham persisted and succeeded in proving his Florida residency. He has now graduated with an associate’s degree, expanding his post-release opportunities.

The situation is much different in Massachusetts, where the first 10 prisoners graduated from a college program offered at Massachusetts Correctional Institution (MCI) in Concord on January 23, 2024. The degrees are conferred by the Tufts University Prison Initiative of Tisch College (TUPIT). Prisoners can earn a B.A. in Civic Studies or a Liberal Arts A.A., attending classes taught by Tufts faculty at MCI-Concord, Souza Baranowski Correctional Center or Northeastern Correctional Center. For those prisoners who are released, the university also offers its on-campus Tufts Education and Reentry Network (MyTERN) program, providing re-entry assistance in navigating employment and housing options while also completing 14 credit hours of coursework to earn a certificate in Civic Studies.

The programs were begun in 2016 at MCI-Concord when Tufts professor and researcher Hillary Binda got approval from the state DOC. Funding comes primarily from grants and donations. Even with recent Pell Grant expansion, enrollment has remained limited to about 60 prisoners in the college-behind-bars program and another 30 in MyTERN. Graduating prisoner Juan Pagan, 33, who is serving a second-degree murder sentence for the May 2006 killing of a member of a rival gang, said that “[m]any of us are imprisoned because of bad choices that felt like the only choices.” But having Tufts professors “affirming that I am worthy and have something positive to offer society is the greatest gift I have ever received.”

Seven days after that graduation in Massachusetts, the State University of New York (SUNY) received a $3 million grant from non-profit Ascendium on January 30, 2024, to expand higher education programs in prisons run by the state Department of Corrections and Community Supervision (DOCCS). SUNY currently offers classes in 23 state prisons enrolling about 1,000 prisoner students, and it will use the grant to reach eight more prisons and 700 more prisoner students. The money from Ascendium, which provides educational opportunities for students from low-income backgrounds, will also be used to conduct research and collaborate with other state university systems, especially those taking Pell Grant funding for higher education in prison.

Sources: Boston Globe, Open Media, TUPIT, State University of New York News

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