Unlocking Potential: Analyzing the Impact of Second-Chance Pell on Incarcerated Students (Poster 4)

• In Event: AERA Promising Scholarship in Education Research: Dissertation Fellows and Their Research
  In Invited Poster Session: AERA Promising Scholarship in Education Research: Dissertation Fellows and Their Research Poster Session

Abstract

The United States has experienced a growth of over 500% in the prison population over the past forty years. A consistent challenge with the criminal justice system has been the high rates of recidivism. Education has often been viewed as a potential solution to rehabilitation that reduces the likelihood of recidivism. Due to several challenges, access to postsecondary options in particular have been limited with most prison systems only offering basic literacy or high school diploma programs. In 2015, this changed with the establishment of the Second Chance Pell program. This initiative expanded federal Pell Grants to incarcerated individuals in select state and federal correctional facilities. This paper seeks to evaluate this program using large administrative data from multiple government agencies.

Author

• Salman Khan, Harvard University