Professor Van Ry

Inmates who take part in educational programs at their correctional facilities are less likely to return to prison and have an easier time finding a job after they are released, according to a new report from the RAND Corporation.

Participating in correctional education programs allows inmates to leave prison with 43-percent lower odds of recidivism and a 13-percent higher employment rate than their peers who do not participate in such programs, says the report, “Evaluating the Effectiveness of Correctional Education: A Meta-Analysis of Programs That Provide Education to Incarcerated Adults.”

Employment rates were higher still for inmates who did vocational training while incarcerated.

The RAND analysis, which was sponsored by the Department of Justice’s Bureau of Justice Assistance, examined more than 30 years of existing research on the effectiveness of prison education programs. The analysis is part of a broader effort by RAND’s Safety and Justice Program to evaluate the state of correctional education in the United States. A subsequent report will include broader, comprehensive findings that evaluate the effectiveness of prison education programs and how they can be carried out in various settings. <Read more.>

Via Libby Sander, The Chronicle of Higher Ed.