News

Press Release: The New York Consortium for Higher Education in Prison

Public Humanities, Justice-in-Education

July 31, 2015

The New York Consortium for Higher Education in Prison Applauds
the Obama Administration Announcement to Reinstate Pell Grant Eligibility for
Incarcerated Students as Part of a Pilot Program

Contact Information
Bryonn Bain, Lyrics From Lockdown, 917-453-9767
Geraldine Downey, Center for Justice, Columbia University, 212-854-4223
Baz Dreisinger, John Jay College of Criminal Justice, 212-237-8197
Eileen Gillooly, Heyman Center for the Humanities, Columbia University, 212-854-9031
Rachael Hudak, New York University Prison Education Program, 212-992-8673
Doran Larson, Attica-Genesee and Mohawk Consortium Programs, 315-790-2550
Sean Pica, Hudson Link for Higher Education in Prison, 914-941-0794
Divine Pryor, Center for NuLeadership on Urban Solutions, 347-869-6821
Rob Scott, Cornell Prison Education Program, 217-328-3228

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: July 31, 2015…The newly formed New York Consortium for Higher Education in Prison (NYCHEP) applauds the Obama Administration announcement this week of the reinstatement of Pell Grant eligibility for incarcerated students, as part of a limited pilot program.

Secretary of Education Arne Duncan states, “the administration wants to develop experimental sites that will make Pell grants available to inmates to help them get job training and secure productive life after they are released.”

Legislative supporters of this program have said that incarcerated individuals who participate in correctional education programs are 43 percent less likely to return to prison and 13 percent more likely to secure employment after finishing their sentence.

NYCHEP is a consortium of colleges, universities, and non-profit organizations offering pathways to postsecondary education for incarcerated people in the state of New York. This growing consortium includes (listed alphabetically):

Center for NuLeadership on Urban Solutions, centerfornuleadership.org
Columbia University’s Justice-in-Education Initiative, centerforjustice.columbia.edu and heymancenter.org/public-humanities-initiative
Cornell University’s Prison Education Program, cpep.cornell.edu
Hudson Link for Higher Education in Prison, hudsonlink.org
John Jay College of Criminal Justice: Prisoner Reentry Institute’s Prison-to-College
Pipeline Program (P2CP)
Lyrics From Lockdown, LyricsFromLockdown.com
Mohawk Consortium College-in-Prison Program
New York University’s Prison Education Program, prisoneducation.nyu.edu
The Attica-Genesee Teaching Project

NYCHEP’s collective goal is to increase access to higher education for those impacted by the criminal justice system, and to pool resources in order to create seamless access to quality education inside prison and beyond. We aim to generate opportunities for criminal justice-affected individuals to achieve success in all arenas of their lives and stand ready to amplify our ongoing work towards increasing access to higher education for all.