College-in-prison programs reduce recidivism, improve life prospects for the families of incarcerated people, create safer prison environments, and restore hope. All contributions, from the smallest to the largest, will help.
Please send your donations to:
Education Justice Project
University of Illinois
805 W. Pennsylvania Ave. MC-057
IPRH Building
Urbana, IL 61801
Announcing the Spring Guest Lecture series at the Danville Correctional Center:
People interested in attending the above events please contact Rebecca Ginsburg (EJP Director) at rginsbur [at] illinois. We will also be hosting this one-time event:
Thank you very much to everyone who applied for a teaching position for 2010-11. The application process is now closed.
Other upcoming events appear in our public calendar, which is also viewable here.
Research is clear. College-in-prison programs reduce arrest, conviction, and reincarceration rates among released prisoners. Evidence has also linked the presence of college-in-prison programs to fewer disciplinary incidents within prison, finding that such programs produce safer environments for prisoners and staff alike. College-prison programs also have benefits for inmates’ families and, hence, their communities. The strongest predictor of whether a given person will attend college is whether her or his parents did. When an incarcerated person receives a college education, whether or not s/he is eventually released, his or her children are more likely to pursue their own educations. In spite of these significant benefits, there has been a precipitous drop in college-in-prison programs around the country. There were over seven hundred degree-granting programs at their height, in the early 1990s. In 1994 the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act eliminated the use of Pell Grants for prisoners, and most prison college programs closed, including Illinois’ BA-granting programs. Bachelor degrees have not been offered in Illinois prisons since 2002.
Advisory Board
We welcome your interest, whether you’d like to serve on one of EJP’s committees, volunteer as a tutor, teach a class in prison, or support our work with a donation. Please click on “Contact EJP” at the top of this page and fill out the form. Someone will contact you.