You Can Make A Difference

Higher education in prison reduces recidivism, saves the state money, creates safer prison environments for staff and incarcerated people alike, and promotes public safety. It also improves life prospects for the families of incarcerated people and restores 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

or contact us by email at info@educationjustice.net

Upcoming Events

Announcing the Spring Guest Lecture series at the Danville Correctional Center:

  • Alex Kotlowicz, author of There Are No Children Here.  Tuesday, April 27, 6:30-8:30 pm.

People interested in attending the above events please email us at info@educationjustice.net. We will also be hosting this one-time event:

  • Open House, Friday April 30, 5 – 8pm.

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.

Why Higher Education in Prison?

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

  • Jorge Chapa, Director, Center on Democracy in a Multiracial Society
  • Violet Harris, Associate Director, College of Education
  • Rob Scott, PhD Candidate, Education Policy Studies
  • Rebecca Ginsburg, Director, EJP
  • William Sullivan, Professor, Department of Landscape Architecture
  • Dede Ruggles, Professor, Department of Landscape Architecture
  • James Kilgore, Research Associate, Center for African Studies
  • Julian Rappaport, Profesor Emeritus, Department of Psychology

Other Ways You Can Become Involved

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.

For press inquiries, please contact Rebecca Ginsburg, EJP Director, at rginsbur@illinois.edu or 217-244-3344