New Agreement to Offer Higher Education Access in All Maryland Prisons

A new agreement between the Maryland Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services (DPSCS) and the University System of Maryland (USM) will allow incarcerated individuals at all of the state’s correctional institutions to earn their college education through the use of Pell Grants, Maryland DPSCS announced in April.

Under the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU), these students will be able to earn their bachelor’s degrees or take credit-based certificate courses.

They will also have access to tutoring, academic advising, and job placement services, according to Dr. Charles Adams, executive director of the prison education initiative at Bowie State University, one of the USM institutions. Tuition costs will be covered in full by Pell Grants.

This MOU has really taken us to the next level and given us systemwide support that will benefit the incarcerated men and women, first and foremost, but also the society they will contribute to upon their release as a result of the education they receive behind bars, Adams told BestColleges.

The collaboration between the two agencies aims to utilize higher education to help incarcerated people in Maryland successfully reintegrate into society upon their release. The MOU is the first in the nation to formalize an agreement between a division of corrections and an entire university system, according to the press release.

Maryland DPSCS Secretary Carolyn J. Scruggs said the department will focus on programs that give students the skills they need to get jobs and be successful.

This historic step puts us closer to ensuring our incarcerated population can improve their lives with education, Scruggs said in the press release.

The department is hyper-focused on ensuring access to education at any educational level in every prison in the state but also to impart on them the skills necessary so they can gain an income and support their families as they reenter society.

As part of the agreement, incarcerated individuals at any of Maryland’s 24 correctional institutions will be able to earn select bachelor’s degrees and certificates from any of the 12 universities in the USM system. Adams told BestColleges that each university is in the process of choosing exact degree programs.

In addition to course offerings, each individual university will send the DPSCS proposals in line with the goals of the statewide agreement, which include:

Pell Grants help middle- and low-income students cover higher education costs.

In July 2023, the federal government expanded Pell Grant eligibility to incarcerated students. This gives over 700,000 Pell-eligible individuals who are incarcerated in the U.S. the chance to pursue this financial aid.

Incarcerated individuals who participated in educational programs had a 43% lower chance of reoffending than those who did not participate in the programs, according to a 2014 study by the RAND Corporation.

As Maryland implements education programs in all its state prisons, other states — including Florida, California, and Texas — have had success on a smaller scale. Maryland intends for the MOU to be a template for other states to follow, according to the press release.

Bowie State, Adams said, was one of the select universities to receive Pell Grant funding for its prison education initiative under the federal government’s limited rollout. However, it still needs to seek approval under the newly expanded state program.

Once we become authorized under the new program, it will formalize our destination of helping our incarcerated population to succeed upon release, Adams said.

The push for higher education in Maryland’s correctional institutions comes amid the rollout of the expanded Pell Grant.

However, as BestColleges previously reported, only one prison education program — at California State Polytechnic University, Humboldt — has been formally approved for Pell Grant funding so far. Applications for funding started last summer.

Currently, Adams said, Bowie State’s application for formal approval is already pending. He said he isn’t concerned by hiccups in the process.

You can’t overstate the importance of this process USM has invested in. There was a disconnect before where universities did their own thing in trying to offer programs like this, Adams said.

Now the process is streamlined, and each institution and correctional facility will get exactly the assistance they need to get these programs off the ground and truly help our incarcerated population to succeed once they are released. It’s a great opportunity systemwide.