Prisoners profit from
Pell Grants
Icess Fernandez
Eureka! I've found the solution to the
problem of high tuition costs. Get arrested.
Robbing, murdering and pillaging like a
modern pirate apparently has its advantages. Getting arrested and then
incarcerated in one of the nation's state-of-the-art prisons now entitles
you to the full benefits of a college education - funded by taxpayers,
of course.
Do inmates really deserve a college education
at taxpayers' expense?
Recently, the state of Colorado, in combination
with Colorado Mountain College, has made courses, trade programs, and degrees
available to Latino prisoners in their jails.
According to the article, Colorado's prison
population has increased from 7,000 to approximately 16,000 inmates in
the last ten years. The Latino population in these jails alone has increased
to 25 percent. Most of them speak only Spanish, and most have little formal
education.
For normal students, the cost of attending
Colorado Mountain College, a two-year junior college, is approximately
$600 per 15-hour semester.
The average cost of housing an inmate in
Colorado was $26,689 during the 1999 fiscal year. The total cost of attending
college as a visitor from the Colorado Department of Corrections is approximately
$27,200. This money comes directly from tax revenues and federal scholarships
and grants.
Granted, it's only two years of school,
but consider the following: The Federal Supplement Opportunities Grant
program is available only for students with exceptional financial need.
If awarded, students can get anywhere from $100 to $4,000, depending on
their college of choice. Some of these funds are now being funneled into
the prison education program.
Since when does a penchant for unlawful
behavior constitute "exceptional financial need"? Grant money like this
is not an unlimited resource.
And the total cost to the jail-bound students?
Nada. They don't even have to fill out a tedious FAFSA form. Scholarship
and grant money that could be delivered to upstanding members of society
is being handed to those who could not force themselves to obey the law.
If the state of Colorado had offered the
prisoners an education before they were jailed, the state would have fewer
prisoners. Imagine the mountains of cash that would be saved for the taxpayers
of Colorado.
Prisoners thrive on this free money. I
have to work my fingers to the bone to pay my tuition and fees -- not to
mention the housing, food, and utility bills that prisoners never have
to deal with.
It seems as though the thousands of law-abiding
students are being punished for keeping their noses clean. Is this a fair
way to run an educational system? While common criminals study for free,
the rest of us work that third job, scramble with scholarship deadlines
or light religious candles in hopes that our financial aid will arrive
in time.
After learning about the state of affairs
in Colorado, I decided to take a look at Texas prisoners in relation to
college.
According to Glen Castlebury, director
of Public Information for the Texas Department of Corrections, education
for prisoners in Texas comes with hard work.
The cost of housing inmates in minimum
security, maximum security, and death row is lower than the national average.
For one year, it costs $10,950 to house a minimum-security prisoner, $13,870
for a regular convict, and nearly $20,000 for death row inmates.
Part of the reason that jail costs are
lower here is our inmates' labor revenues. Inmates who can work must do
so. The amount of money made from their labor is mind boggling. TDC makes
$100 million in textiles and $60 million dollars in agriculture products
yearly.
Prisoners are the primary users of their
own textiles and agriculture products, which does help reduce the cost
of providing for them.
However, similar programs for prisoner
education exist in Texas as well. While our programs may be slightly more
cost-efficient than those in other states, it's still more scholarship
money down the drain for the rest of us.
Through federal and state programs, education
has become more attainable in prison than it is outside of its guarded
walls. It is not fair to say that this is part of rehabilitation.
A solution to this dilemma must exist.
Since Texas loves to build prisons, why not build a prison for students
who want to go to college? It would be a new and controversial program,
but I think it would catch on.
This program would work much like a minimum-security
prison which costs the state $10,000 per inmate. The student would be eligible
for the same grants and financial aid programs that prisoners get, as well
as Pell grants and work-study programs.
Once the fad catches on, Texas can charge
other states to incarcerate their students. This plan may be opposed at
first, but if we write letters to our legislators, perhaps we can all escape
with our degrees.
Or, we could just take that fourth job.
