''He began by taking classes.
When I leave prison I want to leave with a college degree, a master's and a Ph.D. -- not covered in tattoos or pierced. Since the Federal Bureau of Prisons implemented the first mandatory literacy program in the early 1980s, 44 percent of states have instituted such requirements…. ''The tenor of the class, the openness, those are constants. ''When we had Pell grants people were getting A.A. degrees and B.A. He's read Plato, Socrates, Greek and Roman mythology. Many ex-offenders But the story of their life challenges typically begins even before conviction and prison time.

Sentiment against higher education in prison grows as states squeeze budgets of public universities and many question value of humanities education for …

The only thing left was the high school diploma. In this discussion, the authors identify several promising initiatives: This article first appeared on Journalist's Resource and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.Unless otherwise noted, this site and its contents – with the exception of photographs – Literature is about how conflict changes people. His favorite is Rudyard Kipling's ''If.'' Pica believes in luck. The largest impact on budgets was felt by medium-sized and large states (on average, a 20 percent and 10 percent decrease, respectively). ''It's a national demonstration project to prove we can deliver online courses safely to incarcerated adults,'' says D. Ray Harbert, coordinator of postsecondary programs for Maryland's education department.Only five of New York State's 70 prisons have degree-granting programs, all privately financed. Maybe one day he will achieve his goal of being a doctor. ''It's a maturity thing,'' she says. On the other hand, as part of the “get tough” movement discussed earlier, in 1994 Congress restricted inmates from receiving Pell grants, which had been enacted and funded by Congress in the 1970s as a way for disadvantaged groups to obtain postsecondary education. Bush and Bill Clinton have come and gone. It's life, one says. ''Ironic,'' he says, ''that I'm here for murder.'' A Many people enter prison with educational deficits and could benefit from education while incarcerated. The Internet and cellphones have become indispensable parts of everyday life -- not that Mr. Roldan has actually used either. Inspirational messages line the walls: If you don't get it, try again! No matter where you are, it's the same.

What are they going to do? He says he knows all about the history of Americans, Jews, Africans, American Indians and the Celts. There's power in being an educated man who can use words. Most states, including New York, withdrew financial aid for prison education, and more than 350 programs shut down nationwide.Mr. He was assertive, intelligent, strong. At the time, nearly 27,000 inmates were paying for college with the grants, costing the government $35 million annually. Providing them with an education will offer the knowledge that they can have a successful life after prison. Drugs, being a crook -- you can come to prison and do things that aren't positive. ''''All you hear about is the recidivism rate, that 60 percent go back to prison.
Sixty-five prisoners are now enrolled, and degrees in behavioral science will be conferred on the first Mercy graduates next June. She was in a mental institution and she said her writing was from the depths of her being. ''The evidence is strong for any educational intervention.

He just started a job counseling at a nonprofit employment agency in Harlem, making $29,000 a year, and will begin a master's program at Hunter College in September.Juan Roldan may never be released. In Texas, nearly 10,000 inmates take college-level courses financed by private scholarships and the Youthful Offenders Program. But here, 30 miles up the Hudson from New York City, students don't linger after class. Education helps.Sean Pica, 34, was released from Sing Sing in mid-December, having been incarcerated at 17 for killing a classmate's father in Selden, N.Y. (The case was turned into a TV movie, ''A Deadly Silence,'' which he has never seen.) ''When I went up there and got the degree I thought, 'This is the first time in my life I earned something,''' he recalls.

But he didn't know that until he went to prison and started studying.Mr. A typewriter, lamp and desk sit on one side. Prisoners must apply just like any other student and contribute about 12 percent, or $30, of their annual earnings.

This happens a lot, she says. Fine is an author of a study in 2001 that tracked about 2,300 women for three years after their release from the Bedford Hills Correctional Facility in Westchester County, which re-established a program in 1997 through a consortium of private New York colleges and universities and with donors like Glenn Close and Paul Newman.