You Can Make A Difference.

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

Why 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.

Who We Are

Executive Committee

Our Executive Committee includes faculty, graduate students, and community activists with experience in correctional education and research-based knowledge of the penal and criminal justice systems.

• Tage Biswalo, Ph.D. Student, Educational Policy Studies.
• Tracy D. Dace, Ph.D. Student, Special Education.
• Rebecca Ginsburg, Assistant Professor, UIUC, Landscape Architecture, African-American Studies, African Studies, Art History, and Architecture. Director, EJP.
• Rob Scott, Ph.D. Student, Educational Policy Studies; Director, School for Designing a Society.
• William Sullivan, Professor, Landscape Architecture; Director, Environmental Council.

Advisory Committee

• Sundiata Cha Jua, Director, Afro-American Studies and Research Program
• Jorge Chapa, Director, Center on Democracy in a Multiracial Society
• Violet Harris, Associate Director, College of Education
• Sam Smith, Counselor, University Laboratory High School
• Julian Rappaport, Professor Emeritus, Department of Psychology

How 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.