President Obama’s administration is pushing to reduce the recidivism rate in the U.S through a prison reform agenda that will allow eligible inmates to benefit from Pell grants.

The plan, named The Second Chance Pell Pilot Program, was introduced by Arne Duncan, the Secretary of Education.

In 1994, congress discontinued financial aid for incarcerated populations. This program is designed to reinstate access to financial aid to inmates who are to be let free within the next 5 years.

Pell grants are the government’s core program for supporting students from low-income families to attend college.

The administration has planned to provide approximately $30 million for Pell grants to prison inmates in 141 correction institutions.

This amount is less than 0.1% of the $30 billion Pell Program, meaning the Second Chance Pell grants will not affect funding to other Pell recipients. Eligible inmates will have up to $5,815 to finance a two- or four-year degree course.

67 colleges and universities have been selected for the pilot program. Some of these learning institutions will send lecturers to prisons for class-based instruction while others will offer online learning.

The Second Chance Pell Pilot Program shows the government’s commitment to change the way rehabilitation is viewed.

It gives inmates a second chance to cut ties with their past and rebuild themselves.

According to the proponents of the program, helping prison inmates to live a more purposeful life after their prison terms is what rehabilitation really means.

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