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tag: Pell Grants

Past Event
March 5, 2024

Empowering Incarcerated Learners through Technology Solution

SXSW EDU 2024 Session

The reintroduction of Pell Grants to incarcerated learners and recent spread of technology-supported learning call us to explore how tech supports higher education in prison (HEP) programs. While tech has power and potential to help HEP learners succeed, it must be used carefully. On March 5 at 2:30-3:30pm CT, a SXSW EDU panel featuring Ithaka S+R Managing Director Catharine Bond Hill will explore the HEP tech landscape, which is largely shaped by state-level policies. It spotlights two organizations: one…
Blog Post
November 29, 2023

Reflections on the 2023 National Conference on Higher Education in Prisons (NCHEP)

With the restoration of Pell grants for incarcerated students on July 1, the 13th annual National Conference on Higher Education in Prisons (NCHEP), held November 9-11 in Atlanta, marked a turning point in the evolution and growth of the field. This NCHEP was the largest ever, selling out registration weeks in advance and with a record number of first-time attendees, including librarians and representatives from departments of corrections. Most notably, in keeping with the conference theme of “Closing the Gap,”…
Blog Post
October 5, 2023

Pell Restoration for People in Prison

Webinar Recording and Additional Resources

On September 29, we hosted a webinar, “Pell 101: Information for Librarians and Those Serving People in Prison,” to share information about the restoration of Pell funding for students who are incarcerated. Panelists included prison education journalist and Open Campus reporter Charlotte West, Vera Institute of Justice Associate Initiative Director Ruth Delaney, and NASFAA Education Specialist Sheila Meiman. We’re pleased to share the recording here. Below, you will also find our panelists’ responses to questions raised during the…
Past Event
September 29, 2023

Pell 101

Information for Librarians and Those Serving People in Prison

As of July 1, 2023, people who are incarcerated are once again eligible to receive the federal Pell grant, ending an almost 30 year ban. While this represents a long sought victory for advocates working to expand access to postsecondary educational opportunities inside, the process by which Pell restoration is being implemented is complex, involving many stakeholders across Departments of Corrections, colleges and universities, accreditors, and federal agencies. People who are incarcerated will be the critical stakeholders in ensuring access…
Blog Post
April 20, 2023

Education, Information, and Security

Key Findings and Context from New Report on Prison Media Review Policies

With federal Pell grant funding set to resume for college students in prison, higher education in prison programs sit at a critical juncture. As students in prison gain access to additional educational programming, how can we ensure that the courses and curricula they receive are comparable to offerings on the outside? One necessary step is to ensure that the same quality course materials and readings are available. Under the current media review policies of many departments of corrections (DOC), we…
Past Event
March 16, 2023

Serving 500,000 New Students

Planning for Pell Restoration for Incarcerated College Students

Effective July 2023 incarcerated people will again be eligible to receive Pell grants to support their education, ending a 29 year ban. How will academic libraries support an estimated 500,000 newly eligible students in prison? This panel at ACRL 2023 brings together practitioners and researchers from a public, academic, and college in prison program library to discuss how libraries are currently providing services, and to share strategies for providing library access to college students who are currently incarcerated. Recognizing the…
Past Event
March 16, 2022

Serving 500,000 New Students

Planning for Pell Restoration for Incarcerated College Students

Effective July 2023 incarcerated people will again be eligible to receive Pell grants to support their education, ending a 29 year ban. How will academic libraries support an estimated 500,000 newly eligible incarcerated students? This ACRL panel brings together practitioners and researchers from a public, academic, and college in prison program library to discuss how libraries are currently providing services, and to share strategies for providing library access to incarcerated college students. Recognizing the power and importance of…
Blog Post
September 7, 2022

Comments on the Department of Education’s Proposed Regulations for Pell Grant Restoration for Incarcerated People

Effective July 1, 2023, incarcerated people will once again be eligible to receive Pell grants to support their education, ending a 29 year ban. Below we publish Ithaka S+R’s letter to the Department of Education, outlining our concerns and providing recommendations that would help ensure that people who are incarcerated in the United States are provided the opportunity to participate in and benefit from a quality education.
Blog Post
November 10, 2021

Unpacking the Effects of Increasing Pell Grants

The Pell Grant is America’s most prominent tool to promote college access and affordability for low- and middle-income students. With a substantial increase in the maximum Pell award under consideration by Congress, a natural question is how that increase is likely to impact the access and affordability goals of the program. The answer, it turns out, depends a lot on the college or university at which a Pell recipient uses the grant. In a new…
Issue Brief
November 9, 2021

No “One Size Fits All” Impact of Doubling Pell Grants

Understanding the Impact of Changing the Maximum Pell Grant on Low- and Middle-Income Students

As policy makers consider revisions to the Higher Education Act (HEA), understanding the impact of increasing the size of Pell grants is important if it is to have the intended impact of improving educational outcomes for lower income students across the various types of colleges and universities. Proposals to increase the Pell grant have been put forward by the Education Trust, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the Urban Institute, the Biden administration, and many others. House Republicans have…
Blog Post
November 16, 2020

Examining Institution-Level Income Distribution and Financial Aid Trends

New Report

In a 2019 report, we shared initial findings from a novel effort to compare key statistics on the income distribution of undergraduate populations and financial aid awards from three public sources: the Integrated Postsecondary Education System (IPEDS), Opportunity Insights, and the Common Data Set (CDS). Comparing these data sources across groups of higher education institutions organized by control (public or private) and admissions selectivity, we found that they presented similar income distributions, and…
Research Report
November 16, 2020

Comparing Public Institution-Level Data on Students’ Family Income and Financial Aid

In a recent research report titled “Better Than We Thought,” our team at Ithaka S+R compared Integrated Postsecondary Education System (IPEDS) data on the parental income distribution of entering college students with two other public sources of socioeconomic information on that population. In the report, we first checked the consistency of the income distributions reported by IPEDS with a more comprehensive dataset of tax records collected by researchers Opportunity Insights. Finding that, at the level of aggregate groups of institutions…
Blog Post
April 3, 2020

Federal Relief Opportunities for Small Colleges and Universities

Update April 10, 2020:  Since launching its relief programs on April 3, the Small Business Administration (SBA) has clarified that students employed by the institution should be counted as employees when determining eligibility for the Paycheck Protection Program and Economic Injury Disaster Loan (discussed below). As a result, many small colleges and universities may now exceed the 500-employee maximum and will no longer qualify for assistance through these programs. An institution with more than 500 employees may still be eligible…
Blog Post
October 15, 2019

Prisons, the Higher Ed Market, and Second Chance Pell

Both houses of Congress are debating a set of bills to update portions of the Higher Education Act, the key federal postsecondary education law. The long-overdue refresh has been held up by disagreements over levels of funding, accountability, and how to handle sex discrimination under Title IX, among other issues.  Whenever the HEA finally does come up for reauthorization, the move to restore Pell grants to the incarcerated is expected to make the final draft. Legislators who care about improving…
Blog Post
October 24, 2017

New Graduation Data on Pell Recipients Reveals a Gap in Outcomes

In 2015-16, the federal government disbursed more than $28 billion under the Pell Grant program to 7.6 million students, representing almost 40 percent of undergraduates in the United States. Because eligibility for the grant depends largely on financial need, many researchers use it as a proxy for income, although there are limitations. Despite the size and scope of the program and its importance in socioeconomic and higher education research, outcomes of Pell recipients have not been readily available.
Blog Post
May 18, 2016

Will Easing the Financial Burden of Dual Enrollment Improve College Outcomes for Low-Income Students?

As I’ve noted previously, the percentage of low-income (family income in the bottom 20 percent) high school graduates that have enrolled in two- and four-year institutions declined from 55.9 percent in 2008 to 45.5 percent in 2013. Studies examining dual enrollment programs—in which students take courses for college credit while still in high school—have found that participating in such programs increases the likelihood of college degree attainment, especially for low-income students. Yet low-income students tend to have…
Blog Post
February 17, 2016

An Analysis of Pell Grant Data

Earlier this year, the National Center for Education Statistics’ Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) updated its Data Center to include financial aid data for the 2013-14 academic year. Interested in how the percentage of undergraduate students who received Pell grants changed (or did not), I compared the 2013-14 data with that of previous years (2007-08 through 2012-13). The institutions included in the analysis are located in the United States and fall into one of nine sectors based on…
Blog Post
November 12, 2015

Is Changing the Application Process Enough to Improve Access to Selective Colleges?

No, But It’s a Start

Last month, a consortium of 83 selective public and private universities unveiled a plan to build a new college application system. The Coalition for Access, Affordability, and Success plans to develop a “free platform of online tools to streamline the experience of applying to college.” The most notable part of this platform would be its “virtual locker,” a portfolio in which students could store different types of content—from creative work, to class projects, to teacher recommendations—beginning in ninth…
Blog Post
October 1, 2015

Reducing the Pell Graduation Gap: What Works?

Two weeks ago, the New York Times published its second annual “College Access Index,” which measures socioeconomic diversity and accessibility at America’s highest performing colleges and universities. Adjusting its methodology from last year, the 2015 College Access Index incorporated each institution’s average Pell Grant recipient graduation rate into its score (a new addition), along with the institution’s Pell enrollment rate and net price for low income students (both of which were used in the index’s 2014 iteration). Last…