Author: Greg Gaspard
FLETCHER PARTICIPATING IN 2ND CHANCE PELL EXPERIMENT
Schriever, LA – Fletcher Technical Community College has been chosen to be one of 67 schools across the United States to participate in the second cohort of the U.S. Department of Education’s Second Chance Pell Experiment. For the second round, the Department received more than 180 letters of interest. Fletcher and Northshore Technical Community College in Hammond are the only Louisiana schools in the second cohort.
Originally created in 2015, the Second Chance Pell Grant provides need-based Federal Pell Grants to individuals incarcerated in federal and state prisons. The grants allow incarcerated individuals to receive Federal funding to enroll in postsecondary programs offered by local colleges and universities or distance learning providers. In the first two years of the experiment, institutions were awarded approximately $36.2 million in Federal Pell Grants. According to Federal Student Aid records, nearly 5,000 incarcerated students received Federal Pell Grants in the 2016–17 award year, and 6,750 incarcerated students received Federal Pell Grants in the 2017–2018 award years. And according to a recent study by the Vera Institute of Justice, more than 4,000 credentials—including postsecondary certificates, associate degrees, and bachelor’s degrees—have been awarded to Second Chance Pell students over the past three years.
Additionally, according to the Rand Corporation, individuals who participate in correctional education programs are 43% less likely to return to prison than those who do not.
“Fletcher Technical Community College is pleased to have been recognized for the work of our institution in providing opportunities to reduce recidivism,” commented Fletcher Chancellor, Dr. Kristine Strickland. “We are honored to be selected from a large pool of applicants and to be one of only two community colleges in the State to be selected for this opportunity. The designation as an experimental site allows our institution to be one of the first in the nation to participate in this federal program and we are proud to lead in this effort.”
With 63 schools in the first cohort, there are now 130 schools in 42 states and the District of Columbia participating in this program.