Oftentimes when we talk about the value of college-in-prison programs the conversation immediately turns to a discussion about recidivism and cost effectiveness. You’ve probably heard the statistics. According to a meta-analysis conducted by the RAND Corporation, people who participate in a correctional education program while incarcerated are 28 percent less likely to recidivate when compared to individuals who did not participate in a correctional education program and 12 percent more likely to find employment upon release.[i] Similarly, a basic cost analysis found that every dollar spent on correctional education saved taxpayers close to five dollars in reincarceration costs.[ii] This focus on recidivism and taxpayer dollars is understandable as an effort to generate public support for an otherwise unpopular program. However, it obscures the broader, perhaps more significant, impact these programs have on the people who participate in them. In this installment of Perspectives on Higher Education for the Justice-Involved, Amanda Serrano discusses the personal and professional rewards of participating in a college-in-prison program. Written at the time Ms. Serrano was incarcerated, it has been slightly edited to include bibliographic citations.
An Essay: Amanda
College programs in prison are valuable because they are laying the foundation, and affording inmates the opportunity, for a positive and productive future once released. Inmates are able to recognize their potential and are encouraged to strive for a better quality of life. As Ellen Condliffe Lagemann explains in her book Liberating Minds, attending college in prison, "enhances self-esteem and self-confidence, improves peer interactions, and creates a sense of community, encourages compliance with rules and regulations, and instills hope for the future."[iii] This is essential because, while incarcerated, the overall goals are to become rehabilitated and change the characteristics and behaviors which ultimately led to incarceration.
My life in prison has been productive due to the college in prison program. I focus on my education rather than prison politics, and I take advantage of the opportunity to better myself. Since attending college in prison, my self-esteem and self-confidence has grown. It instilled in me a sense of hope of a successful future. I am not speaking of financial success; I am speaking of a personal success, that enables me to be a productive member of society. I agree with Brittany Austin who wrote that "being able to succeed in college elevated my self-esteem and made me feel worthy of success. Now I have dreams and goals, and I believe that no circumstance can hinder my goal."[iv] Today I too have goals and dreams that I didn't have before.
My life without college in prison consisted of self-sabotage. When I arrived at Bedford Hills Correctional Facility for my third prison bid, I was continuing on with the same behaviors which had brought me to prison each time. Those behaviors consisted of continuing to sell drugs knowing the risk involved and knowing the consequences if caught. However, I was carrying on with a learned behavior. That may sound irrational to an outsider. Yet, it is something that has always been a part of my life. As the authors of the article Doing Time Wisely explained, college in prison programs help to change "thinking patterns and learning to avoid negative behaviors to gain positive benefits. This is a long-term skill that will potentially help the women [inmates] avoid other negative outcomes."[v] If I hadn't attended college while in prison, I would have definitely been laying the foundation for my fourth prison bid.
Research also shows that "inmates who participated in correctional education programs had a 43 percent lower odds of recidivating than inmates who did not.”[vi]. Also, released inmates with a higher education, especially a Bachelor’s degree, have a better chance of gaining employment. This could prevent ex-inmates from returning to illegal behaviors to gain money. The less recidivism the less crimes, meaning safer communities. And the taxpayers will save millions each year with incarcerated costs as well for public assistance for the unemployed. According to the Prison Studies Project, it’s beneficial to provide incarcerated individuals with the tools to succeed since “about 95 out of every 100 incarcerated people eventually rejoin society.”[vii] Statistics have shown the poverty levels are reduced 3.5 times for B.A. holders. One study found that "Bachelors degree holders are 47 percent more likely to have health insurance through their jobs...and their employers contribute 74 percent more to their coverage."[viii]. Overall, taxpayers will be saving in other areas aside from incarcerated cost.
There are many individuals who are opposed to the college program in prisons. They feel that inmates should not be rewarded with a free education. I once overheard a Taconic Correctional Facility Sargent saying to one of my professors, "these inmates are ungrateful and should not be allowed free college. I pay to send my three daughters to college; I should not have to pay to send these inmates too." That was when I first realized that the correctional staff weren't all on board with the college program. This piqued my curiosity, so I asked a correctional officer in general conversation his views on the college in prison program. He said, "I don't think it is right. However, I am a realist. I feel that if it is going to give you inmates the tools to better yourselves out there in society, then I am for it. Because It will save me money in the long run" (Personal Communication). In a personal essay entitled “Sins of Omission,” Marcus Lilly wrote that, "the majority of the correctional officers treat prisoners who are pursuing an education as if they do not deserve to be in college."[ix] I agree with his statement, and have witnessed how the pendulum swings in regards to how correctional staff views the college in prison program.
While attending college in prison, I realized how it prepared me for life post-release. Prior to college, I had no idea what my future held with me being a felon. Attending college allowed me to see that I can do whatever I put my mind to, and I have amazing professors who encourage me to do so. I have also proven to myself that I can live up to my potential and be productive in life. It laid out for me the foundation of my future, and gave me the confidence that I'll be successful. The experience of attending college in prison has definitely changed my life for the better. As Legamann discovered when she asked inmate students "about the value of their classes, former college-in-prison students stated again and again that they learned to think more clearly and to see possibilities for themselves they had never known about or believed in before."[x]
When younger I never applied myself in school. I dropped out of high school when I was 16. Like Austin, "I could not see the point in trying to succeed when no one cared."[xi] I was pregnant by the time I was 17. While pregnant I decided to enroll in GED classes, not because anyone had encouraged me to. I guess I always knew subconsciously the importance of education. Two months before I gave birth to my daughter, I received my GED, and it was the first time in my life that I had accomplished something that was beneficial for myself.
No one in my family has a college degree. In my family, success is measured in a monetary sense. As a young woman, I followed the footsteps of my parents and various family members. The life of illegal living was glamorized, and I grew up a product of my environment. I grew up desiring to be a successful drug dealer, not a college graduate. I had learned to make fast money with putting forth minimal effort. However, I obtained that fast money through engaging in illegal activities, which ultimately led to multiple incarcerations. My parents, siblings, aunts, uncles, cousins, and myself have all been incarcerated at one time or another. Instead of obtaining an education and bettering ourselves, we were lengthening our rap sheets and receiving DIN numbers.
Today I desire to live up to my full potential and I refuse to fail. I have goals in place that were not a priority for me prior to attending college-in-prison. Since attending college I received an honors award and the possibility of publication for a personal narrative I had written. I had never envisioned that people would find my writing worthy of any recognition; yet, because of college I know that I am worthy. I have amazing professors that encourage me to do well and I don't want to disappoint them. As Tara Westover wrote in her memoir, Educated, there comes a time when you begin to make the "choices of a changed person, a new self.”[xii] And sometimes the choices we make involves distancing ourselves from the only family we have ever had. However, there comes a point that once your mind is enlightened there is no turning back. The desire for a better quality of life supersedes all else; it's not an easy choice, but it is necessary. Just as Lilly wrote, "returning back to prison isn't a thought in my mind."[xiii] This time when I leave prison I know for certain that it will be for the last time. I am not exiting these prison gates with just my college degree, I am leaving with a sense of purpose and confidence that I didn't have before.
[i] Lois M. Davis, Higher Education Programs in Prison: What We Know Now and What We Should Focus On Going Forward. Santa Monica, CA: RAND Corporation, 2019. https://www.rand.org/pubs/perspectives/PE342.html; Robert Bozick, Jennifer L. Steele, Lois M. Davis, and Susan Turner, “Does Providing Inmates with Education Improve Post-Release Outcomes? A Meta-Analysis of Correctional Education Programs in the United States,” Journal of Experimental Criminology 14, no. 3 (2018), 389-428, https://perma.cc/NKE4- KDFK.
[ii] Lois M. Davis et al., How Effective Is Correctional Education, and Where Do We Go from Here? The
Results of a Comprehensive Evaluation (Santa Monica: RAND Corporation, 2014), https://www.rand.
org/pubs/research_reports/RR564.html.
[iii] Ellen Condliffe Lagemann. Liberating Minds: The Case for College In Prison. (New York: The New Press, 2016), 73,
[iv] Brittany Austin. “The Value of Prison Education: A View from Bedford Hills Correctional Facility.” https://twotwoone.nyc/the-value-of-prison-education-a-view-from-bedford-hills/
[v] Jillian Baranger, Danielle Rousseau, Mary Ellen Mastrorilli, James Matesanz. "Doing Time Wisely: The Social and Personal Benefits of Higher Education in Prison,” The Prison Journal, 98, no. 4 (2018): 502.
[vi] Lois M. Davis et al., How Effective Is Correctional Education, and Where Do We Go from Here? The
Results of a Comprehensive Evaluation (Santa Monica: RAND Corporation, 2014), https://www.rand.
org/pubs/research_reports/RR564.html.
[vii] Why Prison Education? The Prison Education Project. https://prisonstudiesproject.org/why-prison-education-programs/
[viii] Associations of Public and Land-Grant Universities. “How does a college degree improve graduates’ employment and earnings potential?” https://www.aplu.org/our-work/college-costs-tuition-and-financial-aid/publicuvalues/employment-earnings.html.
[ix] Marcus Lilly. “Sins of Omission.” In Education for Liberation: The Politics of Promise and Reform Inside and Beyond America's Prisons, edited by Gerard Robinson and Elizabeth English Smith, 154, New York: Roman and Littlefield.
[x] Lagemann. Liberating Minds, 24.
[xi] Austin. “The Value of Prison Education.”
[xii] Tara Westover. Educated: A Memoir. (Harper Collins Publisheds), 156.
[xiii] Lilly. “sins of Omission,” 156
