Governor Laura Kelly says participation in post-secondary education at Kansas adult correctional facilities has increased by more than 50% during the past year. As of this month, all nine Kansas consortium of correctional higher education member colleges have been accepted to the U. S. Department of Education Pell Experimental Site Initiative, which provides Pell Grants to people in prison. Kansas now leads the country as the only state to provide pell-eligible college programming in every adult correctional facility.
There are currently 22 higher learning programs available in all adult correctional facilities within Kansas. Programs vary from career and technical education to associate degrees in a variety of studies and bachelor’s degrees in computer information systems and business administration or management. Secretary of Corrections Jeff Zmuda says that giving inmates education opportunities will allow them to get a livable wage job on release and that makes them a third less likely to return to prison, with education being the key.
