This story was reported and written by Radio IQ.
People who are incarcerated across Virginia are about to start getting access to college classes.
For many years, Pell Grants were not available to people who are incarcerated. But now the law has changed, and about 14,000 people who are currently incarcerated in Virginia prisons have access to the money to pay for college classes. Terri Erwin is director of the Virginia Consensus for Higher Education in Prison, and she says only 11 of Virginia's 45 prisons offer college classes.
"14,000 people. That's a lot of folks who have [the] possibility of pursuing a degree program, but right now not yet the practical possibility," Erwin explains. "They have the money kind of figuratively in their pockets through the Pell Grant. But they don't have a classroom to walk into and sit down at a desk, open a textbook and start that program."
Governor Glenn Youngkin recently signed an executive order directing state officials to figure out a way to expand access to college classes behind bars.
"It's really incumbent on us to expand access to everyone who can benefit, everybody who is eligible for Pell while incarcerated to earn associate degrees, bachelor's degrees, credentials, industry certifications," says John Donnelly, a partner in the Virginia Consensus for Higher Education in Prison. "Whatever is going to benefit them as they transition back into society."
Although about 14,000 people who are incarcerated are eligible, only about 500 of them are currently taking classes.
