The Institute for Higher Education Policy (IHEP) announced a new two-year research initiative in partnership with the University of Iowa Liberal Arts Beyond Bars (UI LABB) program and Moreau College Initiative (MCI) that will focus on higher-education prison programs and their impact on recidivism rates.
According to IHEP’s issue brief, “Unlocking Potential: Results of a National Survey of Post-secondary Education in State Prisons,” nearly seven in 10 people who are formerly incarcerated will commit a new crime, and half will end up back in prison within three years.
The UI LABB program works with the University of Iowa to provide education to men in the Iowa Medical and Classification Center. Since the program is new, UI LABB can put the earned credits only on an Iowa transcript. However, within the next year, they hope to partner with a local community college that will allow them to offer associate’s and bachelor’s degrees.
“I think the general media impression of higher education in prisons is about reducing recidivism, which is the government argument,” said Kathrina Litchfield, director of UI LABB. “It does that but it does many other things, as well. And the hope of this partnership with IHEP is to explore and provide some empirical and qualitative data that shows the other benefits that come with that opportunity.”
MCI is a collaboration between Holy Cross College and the University of Notre Dame and is run similarly to the two main campuses. The MCI classes are taught by Holy Cross and Notre Dame faculty at Westville correctional facility, and this year 35 classes were offered.
“We are going to use the research initiative to build a better data management system and provide more extensive support for our students so that we can follow them more closely and also provide greater assistance with reentry,” said Dr. Alesha D. Seroczynski, director of college operations for the Westville Education Initiative. “So, anywhere from additional education, finding affordable housing and employment services they might need [such as] resume-writing workshops to budgeting.”
With support from the Great Lakes Higher Education Corporation and Affiliates, IHEP, alongside practitioners, will develop a set of metrics to implement in the prison education programs. When the metrics framework has been reviewed by other researchers, UI LABB and MCI will use it in their teachings.
