This week’s edition of Slow Digest is written by C21 Graduate Fellow Chloe Kwiatkowski.
Higher education programs within the Wisconsin prison system have long been characterized by limited access, exclusionary practices, and slow advancement. For decades, deliberate policy choices have eroded educational pathways for incarcerated people. Associate’s degrees and vocational training are available in restricted forms, but the possibility of sustained intellectual growth is often hampered by structural complexities. Historically, individuals incarcerated in Wisconsin prisons have had no formal opportunity to pursue a four-year bachelor’s degree from a Wisconsin college or university.
This changed recently, in 2023, when the ban on Pell Grants for incarcerated students was lifted. Two key universities leading prison education initiatives in Wisconsin are University of Wisconsin-Madison, through its Prison Education Initiative (PEI), and Marquette University, through its Education Preparedness Program (EPP) and McNeely Prison Education Consortium (MPEC).To understand the significance of this boom in Wisconsin prison education programs, it is necessary to situate the state of higher education in Wisconsin prisons within a larger national and historical context.
President Bill Clinton’s 1994 tough-on-crime policies reduced prison education across the country from four hundred active programs to eight. Clinton’s Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act banned Pell Grant access to incarcerated individuals, which decimated prison education initiatives across the country due to their reliance on Pell Grant funding. The remaining eight prison education programs had to seek private funding or volunteer support to continue their operations. Wisconsin’s own prison education landscape suffered accordingly, as educational institutions lacked the funding and political support to sustain their programs.
It was not until 2015, under President Barack Obama, that the U.S. Department of Education launched the Second Chance Pell Experimental Sites Initiative, which provided needs-based Pell Grants to select people in federal and state prisons. The initiative tested whether expanding college financial aid would increase participation in post-secondary educational opportunities. Milwaukee Area Technical College (MATC) was the first Wisconsin college to participate in the Second Chance program. The initiative was so successful that the data prompted Congress to act, lifting the ban on Pell Grants for incarcerated students in 2020. As of July 1, 2023, all incarcerated individuals nationwide were eligible to receive Pell Grant funding for post-secondary education. Changes seeded by the initiative came to fruition nearly thirty years after Clinton’s ban on Pell Grants. This reversal is just one of many examples of how slow institutional reform can be in the U.S.
Research has long shown that education is one of the most powerful tools of de-carceration. A landmark study by the RAND Corporation found that individuals who participate in postsecondary education programs are 43 percent less likely to return to prison after release. The Vera Institute of Justice underscores this point; its mission is to end mass incarceration, its primary strategy to achieve this goal is to provide incarcerated people with access to higher education. The Vera Institute emphasizes that higher education in prisons increases post-release employment prospects and strengthens family and community ties. By expanding degree pathways in its prisons, Wisconsin will not only invest in the transformation of individuals but also in safer institutions and healthier communities.
Marquette’s EPP started offering courses inside correctional facilities in the spring of 2022. Enrollees can earn Marquette University credits on a transcript as non-degree seeking students. As of this year, EPP operates in Racine Correctional Institution, Racine Youthful Offender Correctional Facility, the Community Reintegration Center, and will soon expand offerings to Robert E. Ellsworth Correctional Center. Many working in this space refer to Racine colloquially as the “carceral corner,” as it houses many of the prison facilities in Southeast Wisconsin.
Currently, EPP is developing a Bachelor of Arts in Peace Studies pathway for incarcerated students at Racine Correctional Institution. UW-Milwaukee is at work on another degree-granting program for system-impacted students: a Bachelor of Science in Community Engagement & Education. Both programs are slated to roll out in 2027. UW-Milwaukee faculty will begin teaching credit-bearing courses in 2026 in preparation for the formal launch in 2027.
Marquette’s EPP and UW-Milwaukee are member schools in the McNeely Prison Education Consortium (MPEC), a remarkable coalition of institutions in Southeast Wisconsin that also includes Carroll University, Alverno College, Mount Mary University, Milwaukee School of Engineering, and Milwaukee Area Technical College. UW-Madison’s PEI collaborates with MPEC, servicing other parts of the state through UW-system schools such as UW-Greenbay, UW-Eau Claire, and UW-Stout. The Consortium’s goal is to create pathways for system-impacted learners to attain degrees by offering opportunities at both correctional facilities and college campuses.
Educational and state institutions are not the only forces advancing education access for system-impacted people. Local non-profits, like The Community, founded by Shannon Ross, are instrumental in advocating for educational access in Wisconsin prisons and jails. The organization provides re-entry support and educational programming, such as their yearly “Correcting the Narrative” series, developed jointly with system-impacted people. The Community demonstrates that collaboration between state institutions, organizations, and those impacted by incarceration is essential if Wisconsin hopes to see its prison education programs flourish.
After decades of absence, post-secondary education is returning to prisons. The bachelor’s degrees launched by the University of Wisconsin-Madison, with Marquette University and UW-Milwaukee soon to follow, are only in their infancy. These initiatives point to a future in which higher education becomes a stable and expected part of Wisconsin’s correctional landscape. The question is no longer whether incarcerated people deserve access to higher education. The question is, what will Wisconsin and you do to help build and sustain these programs that honor the aspirations and brilliance of incarcerated scholars?
Citations
Davis, Lois M., et al. Evaluating the Effectiveness of Correctional Education: A Meta-Analysis of Programs That Provide Education to Incarcerated Adults. RAND Corporation, 2013.
Sawyer, Wendy. “Since You Asked: How Did the 1994 Crime Bill Affect Prison College Programs?” Prison Policy Initiative, 22 Aug. 2019, www.prisonpolicy.org/blog/2019/08/22/college-in-prison/.
Recommendations for Further Exploration:
The Education Preparedness Program (EPP) – “The mission of Marquette University’s Education Preparedness Program (EPP) is to create pathways to higher education for currently and formerly incarcerated individuals and to expand traditional boundaries of higher education through collaboration across the Milwaukee community. The EPP is an initiative of Marquette’s Center for Urban Research, Teaching, and Outreach (CURTO) within the College of Arts and Sciences. We prioritize community-immersive practices that break down barriers and facilitate collaborative learning for personal and social transformation.”
The McNeely Prison Education Consortium (MPEC) – “The McNeely Prison Education Consortium (MPEC) provides access to higher education for students directly impacted by the criminal legal system through a collaborative effort involving universities, colleges, correctional facilities, re-entry programs, and community organizations across Southeastern Wisconsin. By connecting these stakeholders, MPEC offers currently and formerly incarcerated students opportunities to pursue higher education degrees and educational programs. Additionally, MPEC supports higher education institutions in effectively serving these students, contributing to the development of stronger, safer, and more economically vibrant communities throughout the region.”
UW-Madison’s Prison Education Initiative – “The UW-Madison Prison Education Initiative (PEI), led by the Division of Continuing Studies, gives learners who are incarcerated in Wisconsin state prisons the opportunity to reframe their futures through higher education.”
The Community – A Milwaukee-area non-profit whose mission is to “break down stigmas while building up futures for those with criminal records.”
The Vera Institute of Justice – “We are advocates, researchers, and activists working to end mass incarceration.”