Prisoners Receiving Financial Aid for Education Can Reduce Recidivism

In 1994, President Bill Clinton signed the Crime Bill which made inmates ineligible for Pell Grants or financial aid for education purposes. The argument was that granting inmates financial aid for college courses took away from other eligible students. It was wrong. There are no scholarship programs for inmates and since most are indigent, they or their family cannot pay for an education. Although inmate Pell Grants only accounted for 6/10 of the $6 billion in Pell Grants granted at that time, the bill was still passed. (http://www.jpp.org/documents/forms/JPP8/Taylor.pdf)

While inmates are incarcerated as punishment for their actions, those seeking to better themselves should be allowed. Inmates seeking to better themselves and their position in life should be allowed and will help reduce recidivism rates in the United States. What is to stop an ex convict from committing crimes after he is released if he cannot get a job due to lack of education? What does he use to feed his family when he is not shown a better way?

"Statistics show that on release from prison 60% will return to some facet of the criminal justice system for violating the law. However, if the inmate who is released has a high school education,his risk of returning to prison is reduced to 24%; if the inmate has two years of college, the recidivism rate drops to 10%; at four years of college the rate drops to 5.6%; and post graduate degree holders had a 0% recidivism rate." (http://www.jpp.org/documents/forms/JPP8/Taylor.pdf)

With the rate of recidivism of educated inmates being so low, it would be irresponsible for the United Sates to allow it's people to be in jeopardy of being crime victims due to lack of action. It does not matter how many police officers are on the streets or how many prisons are built if the government does not do everything in it's power to keep inmates from recommitting. (http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0DXK/is_10_18/ai_76842902/)

Inmates with education will help reduce crime rates, decrease the amount of money being spent on corrections and prisons, help recover the economy with more ex-inmates being able to acquire employment, and actively decrease recidivism in the United States. Limits can be placed by not allowing offenders to receive grants if they recommit after receiving grants, not allowing inmates with death row or life without parole sentences to receive aid, and stipulations, such as drug rehabilitation classes, money management and bill paying classes, and/or anger management classes.( http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1295/is_n10_v58/ai_15783391/)