Reinstating Pell Grants For Prisoners
By Dr. Marciene Mattleman
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) - Twenty years ago Congress signed into law the omnibus crime bill ending the opportunity for inmates of state and federal prisons to be eligible for Pell grants.
Legislators considered it unjustifiable to give money to prisoners when ordinary citizens were having trouble paying for college, although only 1% was awarded to prisoners that year.
Now, funded privately, Goucher, Bard, and Grinnell Colleges and Wesleyan University are teaching inmates. And, Dallas Pell, 63, daughter of former US Senator Claiborne Pell, a champion for providing federal aid for needy college students, for whom the Act is named, is supporting the reinstatement of the grants for prisoners.
According to The Washington Post, "similar views would be raised instantly if Congress would debate the issue again." Pell, undeterred, tells those who oppose such action that..."it's in everybody's best interest to have people who come out [of prison]..rehabilitated and feel good about themselves."
