The data problem with HEP programs

The fall of 2023 ushered in a new era of Higher Education in Prison (HEP) by reopening the flow of federal Pell money to colleges and universities to offer degrees inside prisons and jails. Not coincidentally, several studies and reports show that HEP programs are growing and expanding across the country. With that expansion begs many important questions, including questions about data collection. Specifically, how are programs incorporating data collection and program evaluation efforts? Relatedly, how do programs know whether their efforts are having the intended impact? These two data-driven questions are surprisingly difficult for many HEP program administrators to answer. Following the data collection problem upstream, however, reveals structural sources of the data problem (or lack thereof).

My work with HEP initiatives at Marquette University has afforded me the opportunity to speak with other HEP administrators across the country via conferences and site visits. While anecdotal, I have noticed a pattern with some HEP programs across the country, especially those at Jesuit universities. The origins for many HEP programs are as follows; a small group of faculty or university staff.¹ (sometimes just one person) decides they want to champion a prison education program at their school. Initially, much of the labor is added to existing responsibilities and goes uncompensated. Program staff (to the extent there is staff) usually starts small and are often forced to adopt a “triage” approach to program administration and management. There is no program without classes and students so the vast majority of the staff’s attention and labor must be focused there. This can lead to cavernous gaps in advising, student support, data collection and program evaluation, especially early in a program’s life cycle. Data collection often comes later (if at all) if/when programs can secure significant grant funding.

Herein lies the source of the data problem. Many HEP programs operate in the broader terrain of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) that endeavor to work with underserved populations and are typically reliant on grants and philanthropy. Relying so heavily on this type of support is a tenuous way to build entire degree pathways and student support infrastructure; even for those HEP programs that have been fortunate enough to receive significant external funding. How long will large foundations and philanthropic organizations be interested in funding HEP programs? Contemporaneously, many colleges and universities are facing budget cuts and organizational downsizing making it increasingly difficult for them to simply “absorb” the cost of these programs. This model of funding and sustainability is also characterized by limited resources and scarcity, which in turn has the potential to foster competition between HEP programs instead of collaboration.

Effective solutions to the data problem must also adopt a structural or systems-level approach. How might HEP programs and even funders organize to work collectively to sustain our work? I have heard some promising possible solutions such as starting a national HEP “endowment.” Alternatively, I wonder if there is a way for HEP programs to collectively engage legislative bodies to make the case for public investment beyond Pell.² The formation and growth of national associations and organizations, such as the Alliance for Higher Education in Prison and the Jesuit Prison Education Network would be essential for this sort of collective action. If the funding model for many HEP programs remains unchanged, then efforts to collect data and assess programs will continue to be inconsistent or missing entirely.

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¹ The reasons I’ve heard about why folks commit to starting a prison education program are varied and could themselves be an interesting topic for additional exploration.

² It is curious to me that both education and criminal legal intervention are understood as public services that necessitate public funding, but efforts to bridge those two institutions are often forced into the grant/philanthropy funding model.

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