As Second Chance Pell Grant program grows, more incarcerated people can get degrees – but there’s a difference between prison-run and college-run education behind bars

People in prison rarely get to go to college. But an expansion in access to federal financial aid through Pell Grants for those who are incarcerated will soon make higher education a bit more available. As of 2014, only 15% of people earn a college degree or postsecondary certificate either before or during their incarceration. Among U.S. adults as a whole in 2021, 53.7% earned such degrees.