College Access Programs for Formerly Incarcerated Populations

• In Event: Understudied Student Populations and Higher Education Access and Persistence

Abstract

The study is designed to create an inventory of college access and support programs in the United States that serve individuals who were formerly incarcerated. To date, prior research has disproportionately focused on higher education programs within prisons, rather than on those that serve formerly incarcerated individuals transitioning into the postsecondary system. As a result, we lack understanding of what re-entry programs exist, how they are organized, and how their services are implemented. With the present study we begin to fill this knowledge gap and, in so doing, take the critical first step towards evaluating the efficacy of re-entry programs for justice involved college students.

Authors

• Graziella Covello, University of Georgia

• Gregory C. Wolniak, University of Georgia