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EDUCATION PHILANTHROPY DIVISION OF ASCENDIUM EDUCATION GROUP

Expand Postsecondary Education in Prison

Our philanthropy addresses barriers facing currently incarcerated adults who don’t have equitable access to high-quality postsecondary education.

A formerly incarcerated person operating a forklift.

How We See the Problem

According to the U.S. Department of Justice, the prison population in the U.S. has skyrocketed in recent decades, with one in a hundred adults — about 2.3 million — currently incarcerated. Nearly all of those individuals will return to their communities at some point, and research has demonstrated that postsecondary education dramatically improves the odds of successful reentry into the community and the labor force.

However, access to programs and cost of programs are obstacles, and often the programming is disconnected from career opportunities.

The majority of incarcerated individuals — 64% — have a high school credential. They’re academically eligible for a postsecondary education program; but for most, it’s out of reach. Unfortunately, 93% of colleges don’t provide postsecondary education in prison. Of those that do provide programs, many have limited capacity to serve all interested individuals.

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Ready for Pell

This two-year initiative is designed to support and strengthen postsecondary education in prison programs in advance of the full restoration of Pell Grant eligibility for incarcerated learners, coming in the 2023-24 academic year.

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Our Three Investment Priorities

Implement new practices and scale proven high-quality postsecondary education in prison models.

  • Identify and amplify promising approaches to delivering postsecondary education in prison.
  • Encourage decision makers to advance the replication and responsible scaling of quality postsecondary education in prison programs.
  • Identify promising technology innovations to address barriers to success, optimize program design, support further pedagogical innovation and increase equitable student choice.

Develop a better understanding of incarcerated learners through data and research.

  • Support systems, institutions and program providers in developing ethical data collection methodologies and building data infrastructure.
  • Support research to evaluate program design, delivery and impact.
  • Build a body of evidence so that decision makers within postsecondary education and corrections agencies are equipped with critical information on reforming policies and practices that increase program quality, impact and learner outcomes. 

Support strategic partnerships between postsecondary education, corrections systems, employers and community-based organizations.

  • Strengthen postsecondary education in prison systems by seeding and nurturing alliances and coalitions among organizations that have shared missions to support incarcerated learners' success.
  • Support states and intermediary organizations to create stronger systems of postsecondary education in prison delivery, which may include developing data collection standards, data infrastructures and supports, providing direct technical assistance and facilitating well-structured peer learning opportunities.

Grants to Expand Postsecondary Education in Prison

To learn about our approach to grantmaking (Exploration, Validation, Scaling), visit our How We Fund page.

Optimizing Delivery Systems for Higher Education in Prison

Exploration
CUNY Institute for State and Local Governance|$150,000|1/2020 - 6/2021
This grant supports City University of New York’s Institute for State and Local Governance, in partnership with the New York State Department of Corrections & Community Supervision, in bringing together key stakeholders to coordinate and align the educational offerings of 47 college and vocational programs operating across 30 prisons to eliminate programmatic gaps, increase transferability and ensure broad access to high quality postsecondary education across New York facilities.

Teaching and Learning Initiative

Exploration
Mount Tamalpais College|$958,700|7/2018 - 6/2021
This grant supports the Prison University Project (PUP) in developing and implementing trauma-informed teaching practices in prison-based college programming and assessing their impact. The grant will also enable PUP to develop and disseminate training materials based on the lessons learned.

Alliance for Higher Education in Prison Capacity Building

Exploration
Alliance for Higher Education in Prison|$300,000|6/2018 - 5/2021
This grant supports the Alliance for Higher Education in Prison as it works toward a 501(c)(3) designation, hires core staff, builds infrastructure, solidifies key partnerships and develops three primary strategic focus areas: programmatic support, resource and information sharing, and research and data.

Optimizing Delivery Systems for Higher Education in Prison

Exploration
State of Minnesota Department of Corrections|$150,000|1/2020 - 4/2021
This grant supports Minnesota Department of Corrections, in partnership with the "Just Education" Collaborative at the Institute for Advanced Study at the University of Minnesota, Inver Hills Community College/Dakota County Technical College and Augsburg University, in preparing to launch their “College at Prison” effort to reimagine postsecondary education offerings across all prison facilities in Minnesota.

Career Navigator Initiative

Exploration
State of Minnesota Department of Corrections|$1,692,430|1/2018 - 12/2020
This grant supports the Minnesota Department of Corrections in increasing access to high-quality career and technical education for incarcerated students at four prisons in Minnesota. New certification (OSHA and Forklift) and training (Heavy Equipment Operation) opportunities will be combined with advising to help students obtain gainful employment post-release.

Ensuring High Quality Higher Education in Prison Programs

Exploration
Institute for Higher Education Policy|$1,903,426|6/2018 - 10/2020
This grant supports the Institute for Higher Education Policy in developing a set of key performance indicators for higher education in prison that will help practitioners use data strategically to improve programs and promote student success.
View All Ascendium Grants

Latest News

September 27, 2023

Keith Witham Reflects on His First Six Months as Vice President of Education Philanthropy

Halfway through his first year as Vice President of Education Philanthropy, Keith Witham provides an overview of the past six months of Ascendium’s grantmaking. He also looks ahead, reaffirming Ascendium’s commitment to transforming the lives of learners from low-income backgrounds through postsecondary education and workforce training.

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August 24, 2023

Q&A with UIA’s Bridget Burns, Improving Learner Outcomes with Updated CUNY Transfer Explorer, and More

  • Q&A: UIA’s Bridget Burns on Helping Struggling Students Get Back on Track (Part 1)
  • Updated Tool Saves Time and Money to Improve Learner Outcomes
  • Helping Learners See a Clearer Path: Awareness Continues to Build Around Guided Pathways Framework
Read More
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Resources

Second Chance Pell: Six Years of Expanding Higher Education Programs in Prisons

Since 2016, the Vera Institute of Justice has provided technical assistance to colleges and corrections departments participating in the Second Chance Pell Experimental Sites Initiative, which provides need-based Pell Grants to people in state and federal prisons. This report describes the first six years of the initiative, with special focus on the 2021–22 financial aid year.

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Report of the New England Commission on the Future of Higher Education in Prison

The New England Commission on the Future of Higher Education in Prison was formed with the goal of working to ensure that every incarcerated person in New England has access to high-quality, workforce-aligned equitable postsecondary opportunities with a wide range of educational pathways. With the restoration of Pell Grants for incarcerated learners occurring July 1, this report speaks to how such aims can be achieved.

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Molly
Lasagna

Senior Program Officer,
Expand Postsecondary Education in Prison

Ashley
Parker

Associate Program Officer,
Expand Postsecondary Education in Prison

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