At the end of last July, the Obama Administration selected 67 colleges to participate in an experimental pilot program through the Department of Education (DOE) to extend Pell Grants to certain incarcerated individuals. The experimental program will impact up to 12,000 inmates working to earn a post-secondary degree. 141 correctional institutions will take part in the Second Chance Pell Grant program. 

This monumental move in criminal justice policy marks the first time inmates will be eligible for Pell Grants in over 20 years, when the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994 explicitly banned grants to any incarcerated individuals. Though that bill is still in place, the new pilot program is granted through experimentation under the Higher Education Act.

As for the grants, they function in the same way as grants for non-incarcerated students. Federal Pell Grants are available to students seeking a college degree with demonstrated financial need. The grant is proportional to the student’s income with a maximum amount of $5,815 for the 2016-2017 academic year.

The initiative follows a slew of research in recent years showing that educational rehabilitation for inmates sharply decreases recidivism, increases social capital, and aids re-entry into society. One such 2013 study found that individuals who participated in correctional education were 43 percent less likely to recidivate in the three years after release than individuals who didn’t participate in education. Further, the program serves individuals marked for release within the next five years, the demographic educational programming will benefit most.

But the program has been met with some public disapproval, largely because some believe that confronting the student debt epidemic in the U.S. and extending grant programs for traditional students should receive higher priority than funding education for incarcerated students.

Nevertheless, the DOE has made their priorities and intentions clear with regards to the intersection of criminal justice and education. In a report released this month, the DOE pointed out that in the last 25 years average spending on PK-12 education has increased around 100 percent, whereas correctional spending has increased around 300 percent. That figure is even higher in states like Texas, where correctional spending has increased by 850 percent during the same time period. 

Investing in education is a cost effective method for reducing crime. The DOE report points to a study which found that a 10 percent increase in high school graduation rates could result in an approximately nine percent decrease in arrest rates leading to drastically fewer inmates and prison costs.

As a snapshot example, it cost the city of New York an average $167,731 for each inmate held in a correctional institution in 2013. By reducing arrests and thus incarceration, correctional institutions can re-allocate greater funds towards rehabilitative services like vocational training and higher education aided by Pell Grants.

For now, the Pell Grant extension to inmates is experimental, but marks an important shift away toward rehabilitative approach to inmates within the U.S. criminal justice system. A grant program that was created to allow students to go to college who otherwise could not has a clear purpose in correctional institutions where inmates may have their only chance to pursue a college degree.

Ashlee Smith

Ashlee Smith is a Law Street Intern from San Antonio, TX. She is a sophomore at American University, pursuing a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and Journalism. Her passions include social policy, coffee, and watching West Wing. Contact Ashlee at ASmith@LawStreetMedia.com.

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Now more than ever, families need to seriously weigh the financial pros and cons of universities. But there are some tools that can help–for example, the development of College Abacus, a website that makes it easier for students and their families to compare financial aid packages before applying to schools. College Abacus has been deemed the “Kayak” of college financial aid, but it’s always been controversial, and some schools have not allowed College Abacus to use their information. Schools such as Skidmore and Oberlin have lifted their original bans on the site, but others such as Harvard, Princeton, and California Institute of Technology Schools still block the site from using their information. While some of the concerns are warranted, schools are doing a disservice to their students by blocking the site.

When it comes down to it, college is an investment. While the profitable gains of the college experience remain immeasurable, the amount of debt students incur can easily be measured by families and graduates alike years after memories have faded. Since October 29, 2011 the Higher Education Act (HEA) has required colleges to provide a net price calculator on their websites. The price generated by these net price calculators gives an estimate of what families will pay for college minus grants and scholarships. The calculator bases its information off of similar data from students at that institution from the previous year. College Abacus helps students easily see these net prices together, and cuts down the time of entering the same information into multiple calculators on school websites.

Image courtesy of [SemperDoctus via Wikimedia]

Harvard, Princeton, and Cal Tech are not alone in their refusal to participate in College Abacus’s services. Schools have a right to worry about the site’s accuracy. The service sometimes takes similar questions from the different schools’ financial aid calculators and groups them together for comparison. At one point, College Abacus made a mistake when rephrasing a financial aid question for Hamilton College, which the co-founder of Abacus sorted out within 24 hours after the financial aid director of Hamilton reached out. The staff at Abacus welcomes concerns from financial aid officers, and relies on the schools for accuracy. But by opting out, schools block the site from accessing their net calculators.

Truly, students and their families are hurt when colleges and universities block Abacus. It has simply created a platform for families to compare the financial investment of college. Money may be the most objective differentiate between two schools for an individual family. The debate goes on for hours about the right environment, professors, dorms, location, etc between two schools, but comparing the potential net cost does not need to be an additional ordeal. In this new age of technology, universities should welcome tools creating more transparency for their future students.

Dorsey Hill

Dorsey is a member of Barnard College’s class of 2016 with a major in Urban Studies and concentration in Political Science. As a native of Chicago and resident of New York City, Dorsey loves to explore the multiple cultural facets of cities. She has a deep interest in social justice issue especially those relevant to urban environments. Contact Dorsey at Staff@LawStreetMedia.com.

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On Wednesday, Drexel University announced that it will be renaming its law school after receiving the largest donation in the school’s history. The school will now be known as the Thomas R. Kline School of Law, after Kline made a generous $50 million donation to the university.

Drexel Law School was founded just eight years ago in 2006, and was originally named after Earle Mack after he pledged $15 million to the school. However, he was dropped when University officials decided that the school needed a stronger foundation.

Kline, the new benefactor, is a trustee of Drexel University, and has spent most of his thirty-year long career as a Philadelphia trial attorney focused on medical malpractice, personal injury, and whistleblower cases. Kline made this donation in hopes that the school can work its way to the top ranks of legal education.

In addition to his work as a trial attorney, Klein is chairman of the law school board. He stated that the idea for the trial advocacy center came from a conversation with the law school dean, Roger Dennis. Kline shared:

It is our collective vision to create a law school with national stature, the foundation is there. What we now have is an opportunity to not only build programmatic changes, but we also have a magnificent magnet that is a true gem of the City of Philadelphia.

The large donation includes the former Beneficial Savings Fund Society building in downtown Philadelphia, which will be home to a new trial advocacy center. Drexel President John. A Fry has stated that “This is a major, major moment for the law school”. He believes that this donation gives Drexel “the opportunity to put this relatively new law school on a firm financial footing and, in particular, establish it as a force for the practice of trial advocacy.”

With the new downtown building, which is projected to open in 2017, the law school will have two sites: the main campus in University City and the new campus in Center City surrounded by city and federal courts as well as many law firms. This new location is sure to give students even more opportunities to find jobs and internships while at law school.

In addition to providing a new trial advocacy center in a prime location, the donation will also give Drexel Law the means to increase scholarships and financial aid for students. This comes at a crucial time, when many top law schools are reducing tuition and increasing financial aid to entice more students due to a drop in overall law school applicants. According to recent statistics, enrollment in the nation’s top law schools has dropped 24 percent overall in the last three years. It is the hope that with this donation, more scholarships and financial aid will entice more students to enroll in Drexel Law. Currently, tuition is about $40,000 a year. These new scholarships and aid packages will relieve some of that burden and ultimately increase Drexel’s competitive edge amongst the top law schools in the nation.

Brittany Alzfan

Brittany Alzfan is a student at the George Washington University majoring in Criminal Justice. She was a member of Law Street’s founding Law School Rankings team during the summer of 2014. Contact Brittany at staff@LawStreetMedia.com.

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Four days.

For most law schools, April 15^th is the assigned date for matriculating law students to fork over their first deposit. Still unsure of where I was going to end up, I hopped on a bus last weekend and visited each of the schools I was considering. For anyone who’s still on the fence about which law school is right, a visit, albeit last minute, is definitely worth the time, money, and hours of discomfort on a discount bus.

Why are law school visits worth the trip?

When I showed up at the admissions office of the first law school on my list, I was greeted by a friendly second year law student. She was overjoyed – over the past few months she had arrived to give tours and today was the first day any prospective students had actually shown up. Not a great sign, I thought. Barely able to contain her excitement, the perky tour guide led us out of the double doors and towards our first stop.

I should preface any advice I give with this: I’ve never been a big fan of tours in general, whether it’s law school or college. While I do think they have their value, I’m probably not going to pick a school based on the look of their classrooms or administrative offices. That being said, here are 7 tips for when you’re strolling through the halls of what could be your future alma mater.

1. Don’t expect to be blown away by a law school’s facilities or campus. That’s not to say law schools are decrepit – most are very nice. But don’t go in with the expectation of a beautiful sprawling campus with a quad and a football field. Compared to the majority of college campuses, law schools are tiny. More often than not, the entire school will be made up of about 4-5 buildings. If you’re like me and aren’t very fond of tours, fear not. Due to the small size of both the schools themselves and the actual tour groups, tours usually don’t last more than a half hour. Most likely, you’re not going to step foot on a law school’s campus and get that “this is the place I need to be” feeling.

2. Plan your visit during an “Accepted Students Day.” Not so much for the speeches by faculty and staff, but for the opportunity to talk with current students. Also, during most ASDs, schools will offer admitted students the opportunity to sit in on a live class. While class sit-ins tend to be pretty standard across the board, this experience will at the very least give you a feel for a real law school class.

3. Go for a stroll. Approach some law students around campus – you’ll be able to recognize them by the 4-inch thick red and black books they’re buried in. Sure, it’s awkward. But talking to actual students outside of an official school function can give you a genuine sense of law school life. And although some will act like you don’t exist, most are at least willing to talk to you for a few minutes.

4. Make an appointment to speak to someone in the admissions office and financial aid office. Some schools consolidate these departments into one office, others don’t. If appointments aren’t available, at least stop in and introduce yourself. From my own personal experience, the people working in these offices are very friendly. They recognize that law school is an investment – a big one – and more often than not they’re willing to speak with you. When you do introduce yourself, be charming. After all, these are the people who have a say in the allocation of funds, whether it be merit money or financial aid. First impressions are always important, and a face-to-face conversation with someone can, at the very least, give a face – hopefully a smiling one – to your application.

5. If you received a scholarship to law school, congrats – it’s not an easy thing to do. Be proud of your scholarship, but don’t simply accept a school’s initial offer. You probably just raised your eyebrows, and that’s understandable. When I first learned about negotiating scholarships, I was apprehensive too. But after sending out some emails, I’m convinced that it really does work. If a school has awarded you a scholarship, it’s clear they’re under the impression that you’d be a valuable addition to their institution. And they’re right – believing that you’re in demand is the first step. The second step is grabbing your laptop and launching your email.

6. Next, ask for more money – respectfully, of course. If you’re unsure of how to do this, do a quick Google search. You’ll find information, and even some sample letters, that can guide you through the process. If you’ve received scholarships from other schools besides the one you’re writing to, mention that. Law schools take offers from other schools, especially peer schools, very seriously. After all, if you choose School A over School B, School B is losing out on some serious cash. It’s best, if possible, to send out these emails before you visit schools in person. That way, the admissions office will already be familiar with your situation. Additionally, following up an email with an in-person visit shows the school you’re serious about attending. In the end, my best advice would be to leave your pride at the door when dealing with admissions or financial aid. Don’t be afraid to grovel. I’m not saying you have to get down on your knees and beg for more money, but I’ve learned firsthand that being politely persistent can go a long way.

7. Book a hotel room near the law school you’re visiting. If you’re like me and are doing visits last minute, this might not be possible. But if the option is there, stay in a hotel and experience the nightlife of the surrounding town or city, wherever it may be. After all, everyone needs a break from the library at some point.

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Matt DiCenso (@mdicenso24)

Matt DiCenso

Matt DiCenso is a graduate of The George Washington University. Contact Matt at staff@LawStreetMedia.com.

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