The Second Chance Pell Pilot Program will allow incarcerated students to receive federal Pell Grant funding for a college education while serving a state prison term. Of the 200 applicants across 48 state, 69 colleges and universities have been selected in 27 states. These institutions will serve 12,000 incarcerated people in more than 100 state and federal prisons. Here are some statistics about why the federal government is increasing access to higher education in the prison system.

• An estimated 70 million Americans or one out of three adults have been involved in the criminal justice system either through an arrest or conviction.• Nearly two-thirds of people with a felonyrecord stopped the application after being asked about criminal justice involvement.• 40 percent of the more than 700,000 inmates released from prisons annually end up back in the prison within three years.• 68 percent of inmates in state prisons lack a high school diploma.• 84 percent of state correctional institutions offer some type of education or training.• Inmates who participate in correctional education programs have a 30 percent chance of returning to prison, compared with 43 percent of those who do not.• The cost of correctional education programs per participant is $1,400-$1,744, but the average savings per participant from reduced reincarceration rates is $8,700-9,700 over three years, providing a three-year return on investment for taxpayers of $5 saved for every $1 spent.Sources: U.S. Department of Education and the RAND Corporation