Prison Education Programs
Prison Education Programs
The FAFSA Simplification Act passed on Dec. 27, 2020 as part of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021 made important changes to the Higher Education Act of 1965 (HEA) and the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA®), including the restoration of Pell Grant for students incarcerated in federal or state penal institutions and students who are subject to involuntary commitments. The law ties Pell Grant Eligibility to enrollment in an eligible prison education program (PEP). In addition, it creates a new definition of a “prison education program” and adds specific requirements for approval, reporting, oversight, and evaluation of such programs. The provisions of the FAFSA Simplification Act related to incarcerated students, have an effective date of July 1, 2023.
Prison Education Programs are eligible programs defined by statute under 34 CFR 668.8, offered by a public or nonprofit educational institution (as defined in 34 CFR 600.4), or a postsecondary vocational institution (as defined in 34 CFR 600.6). Private for-profit (proprietary) institutions cannot offer a Title IV eligible PEP. In addition to the definitions linked above, an eligible PEP must meet the requirements in 34 CFR 668.236.
You can find out more information below about the Second Chance Pell Experimental Sites Initiative as well as Prison Education Programs.
The Second Chance Pell experiment was established in 2015 and provides need-based Pell Grants to incarcerated individuals to allow them to participate in eligible postsecondary programs. This experiment provided a waiver of the at the time statutory provision that a student who is incarcerated in a Federal or State penal institution may not receive a Pell Grant. The experiment allowed some otherwise eligible students who were incarcerated in Federal or State penal institutions to receive a Pell Grant to help cover some of the costs of their participation in a postsecondary education and training program developed and offered by the participating postsecondary educational institution.
With the passage of the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) Simplification Act in 2020, Congress expanded the ability to serve confined or incarcerated individuals by reinstating Pell Grant eligibility for otherwise-eligible confined or incarcerated individuals enrolled in eligible prison education programs (PEPs) beginning July 1, 2023. As a result, the current Second Chance Pell experiment ended on June 30, 2023.
A Federal Register notice was published on April 18, 2023, that invited postsecondary educational institutions that were currently participating in the Second Chance Pell experiment to apply to participate in a new experiment under the Experimental Sites Initiative (ESI).
The revised Second Chance Pell experiment provided new waivers to allow current Second Chance Pell institutions to continue serving their confined or incarcerated students after July 1, 2023. This gives participating institutions time to seek Department approval of their PEPs (as defined under the new regulations in 34 CFR part 668 subpart P) and avoid interrupting the educational opportunities of confined or incarcerated students currently enrolled in approved programs under the experiment. Specifically, the revised experiment will allow current participating institutions to continue offering their current programs to confined or incarcerated individuals for up to 3 award years while they work through the application and approval process for the PEP(s) they wish to offer under the new provisions.
For more information on Second Chance Pell please visit https://experimentalsites.ed.gov/approved.html
Prison Education Programs (PEPs) were fully implemented by new regulations in July 2023. This expansion of federal financial aid should allow a far greater number of students to access federal Pell grants. PEPs allow students to continue their education and receive access to Pell grants and federal student loans while incarcerated.
More information can be found on the Knowledge Center or in the Code of Federal Regulations.