SALT LAKE CITY — Salt Lake Community College has been designated a Second Chance Pell institution, which means incarcerated students can use federal Pell Grants to attend the institution.
SLCC was among a cohort of 67 colleges and universities invited by the U.S. Department of Education to participate in the Second Chance Pell experiment, intended to create more education opportunities for incarcerated students.
This was the second cohort invited to participate in the initiative but the first time a Utah college or university was selected.
SLCC spokesman Joy Tlou said the college currently provides in-classroom instruction to inmates, although that was interrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic. Eleven students who received instruction while incarcerated are part of SLCC’s Class of 2020, he said.
According to the Rand Corp., people who participate in correctional education programs are 43% less likely to return to prison than those who do not.
Education Secretary Betsy DeVos, in a statement, said the initiative is transforming inmates’ lives.
“By expanding this experiment, we are providing a meaningful opportunity for more students to set themselves up for future success in the workforce. The stories I’ve heard from students and institutions engaged in the experiment are very encouraging, and we look forward to seeing how this expansion will help even more students achieve a better future,” DeVos said.
The expansion more than doubles the size of the experiment, allowing incarcerated students to use federal Pell Grants at 130 schools in 42 states and the District of Columbia. The initial cohort included 63 schools in 26 states.
The U.S. Department of Education received more than 180 letters of interest from colleges and universities and selected 67 institutions determined to be most qualified. The cohort represents institutional, programmatic and geographic diversity.
Nearly two-thirds of the schools invited to participate are two-year institutions; one-third are minority-serving institutions; and all are either public institutions or private nonprofits.
The Second Chance Pell Experiment, created during the Obama administration, provides need-based federal Pell Grants to state and federal prison inmates to enroll in postsecondary programs offered by local colleges and universities or distance learning providers.
In the first two years of the experiment, institutions were awarded approximately $36.2 million in federal Pell Grants.
Nearly 5,000 incarcerated students received federal Pell Grants in the 2016–17 award year and 6,750 inmates received them in 2017–18.
According to a recent Vera Institute of Justice study, more than 4,000 postsecondary certificates, associate degrees, and bachelor degrees have been awarded to Second Chance Pell students over the past three years.