State and federal prisoners who wish to take college courses and are still behind bars will received aid through the Second Chance Pell Pilot program. This program will commence from the 2016-17 school year onwards.
In explaining the objective of this pilot program, Education Secretary Arne Duncan said, “America is a nation of second chances. 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 — it can also be a cost-saver for taxpayers.”
Even though Congress excluded federal grants to be used to fund prisoners’ since 1994, this new program will allow them to do so, if only on a temporary basis. The program will be available for three to five years and would be for prisoners who are eligible for release, and in particular, during the next five years.
Alternatively, the Republicans were quick to oppose such a program saying that it rewards people who have broken the law while at the expense of American taxpayers. They also added that the Obama administration does not have the authority to divert funds without obtaining an approval from Congress.
Ted Mitchell, the Undersecretary of Education, says that this ban is over 20 years old and it’s worth a trial since a lot has changed since then. He also added that this trial would also provide data as to whether that ban should remain in place.
No further information was provided as to how many prisoners would participate in this trial. The federal Pell program offers grants ranging from $582 to $5,645 to about 8.6 million students in 2013-14. The maximum award for this year was $5,775.