Correctional education
What’s the problem?
Although the number of incarcerated people in Maryland prisons has doubled since 1982, there are significantly fewer students and teachers in education programs. According to available reports and the testimony of former program directors, annual GED completion numbers have dropped from 1,000 in fiscal year 2000 to less than 270 in fiscal year 2024. These reports indicate that funding is much lower than it used to be in both real dollars and as a percentage of expenditures for corrections.
While some of the decline in GED completions results from the increased difficulty of the revised GED 2014 exam, the number of students attending school has also dropped. Waiting lists for school skyrocketed with the passage of legislation in 2019 increasing mandatory school attendance to 240 days. According to interviews with case managers, teachers, and incarcerated individuals, some who complete the 240-day requirement are dropped from school even before they attain their GED diploma.
A study by the Abell Foundation estimated that a third of incarcerated individuals had a high school diploma, but that without additional remediation, many of them did not possess adequate reading or writing skills to succeed in postsecondary education. Moreover, monetary incentives for incarcerated people to participate in school are lower than for jobs in prison maintenance. According to the Abell Foundation, incarcerated individuals “on work crews earn $3 to $4 per day, whereas those enrolled in education programs earn just $1 per day.”
Correctional education is important because it lowers recidivism and helps incarcerated people succeed when they go home, thereby changing their lives and those of their families and members of the community. A RAND Corporation research report underscores the societal and financial benefits of correctional education, showing that it significantly lowers recidivism and provides a substantial return on investment.
What’s the solution?
Delegate Marlon Amprey sponsored two successful pieces of legislation in 2024 addressing these problems. One bill (HB0092), known as REAP (Resources and Education for All Prisons) requires the Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services (DPSCS) to assist incarcerated individuals in accessing federal education grants and requires relevant agencies to set goals and establish tracking systems in education programs.
The second bill (HB0209) established the Prison Education Delivery Reform Commission to develop recommendations relating to education in prisons and jails. The Commission recently completed its first year of work and has issued an annual report with 15 recommendations for education. DPSCS and the Department of Labor have begun to implement improvements in data collection, alternative high school completion certificates, access to state higher education grants and scholarships, and other issues. The Commission is currently researching various reforms for educational programs, including the creation of a school district with its own school board. The Commission’s first annual report will soon be available online.
The Commission is utilizing the extensive research by the RAND Corporation, the Abell Foundation, the Educational Testing Service, the Vera Institute of Justice, and other organizations to evaluate Maryland’s current educational and job training programs and make recommendations on how to improve them.
The Commission is studying current reentry data collection and tracking systems and will recommend ways to include individualized educational and career plans in every incarcerated person’s rehabilitation and reentry plan. The Commission is also examining effective correctional education systems in other states and will recommend a stronger and more coordinated structure for programs in Maryland state agencies.
Will this work?
These measures will encourage more incarcerated people to discover their own capabilities and become serious learners. If they leave prison with up-to-date skills, diplomas, and certificates, they will be better able to become productive workers and tax-paying citizens. Ultimately, the state will save money and see less crime.
Until 1994, the state relied solely on Pell grants to fund college-level programs. Just before Pell grants were made unavailable to incarcerated people in 1994, over 1,000 people in Maryland prisons attended college. The number soon dropped to zero. Experimental Pell Grant funds again became available during the Obama administration, and four Maryland universities and colleges were awarded the federal grants and started programs. In 2023, when Pell Grants were fully restored, several area colleges and universities applied for and received Pell Grant approval by the U.S. Department of Education.
Because most incarcerated individuals in Maryland lack a high school diploma and many receive a GED score below college readiness, the growing number of college programs will be competing for a limited number of students. Currently, there is little or no formal coordination between the Correctional Education Program and the various colleges and universities that provide courses. The Commission will aim to remedy these defects. With several colleges starting programs in Maryland institutions, there are not enough classrooms available. Goucher College paid for two trailers at MCI-W (the only women’s prison in Maryland) to make adequate space for a full-time higher education program. Unfortunately, on the Eastern Shore and in Western Maryland institutions, there are shortages not only of space but also of correctional officers.
Read more
A study by the RAND Corporation shows the connection between participation in education programs while incarcerated and a reduction in recidivism.
The Abell Foundation’s 2017 report, Prison Education: Maximizing the Potential for Employment and Successful Community Reintegration, identifies the untapped potential of correctional education to improve outcomes and recommends an enhanced incentive system.
In its 2020 report, How to Unlock the Power of Prison, the Educational Testing Service recommends improving the quality and quantity of educational programs in prisons, providing greater incentives for people to participate in them, and enhancing instruction in computer skills.
The Vera Institute of Justice has produced several reports on the benefits of higher education to people in prison.
December 2025
