We have the media and politicians to thank for this appalling reality. Mainstream media cultivates crime anxiety that politicians exploit to get elected. Lawmakers earn their tough-on-crime bona fides (along side their reelection war chests) by enacting ever-harsher criminal punishments.

To make matters worse, criminal justice policies emphasize incapacitation over rehabilitation. Nowhere is this more apparent than to those attempting to educate themselves from behind bars. Since incarcerated students are denied federal financial aid, opportunities for post-secondary education are virtually non-existent.

Considering that 50% of released inmates (nearly all inmates are eventually freed) are currently returning to prison within 3 years, we all bear the burden of failing to provide opportunities for rehabilitation. The Prison Scholar Fund believes in second chances and self improvement. We invest in incarcerated students.

Consider some statistics from the Fact Sheet: US Rates of Incarceration: A Global Perspective by Christopher Hartney, researched and published by the National Council on Crime and Delinquency (November 2006)

On the nightly news, we hear about the human rights violations in countries such as China, Iran, Cuba, and Venezuela. Contrary to what we would guess, the US houses more inmates by an order of magnitude. For example, per 100,000 population, Venezuela houses 74 people, China houses 118 people, Iran 206 people, and Cuba 487 people. But none of these countries led by “tyrants” comes close to what the US houses: a surprising 738 people. What’s more, according to the World’s Prison Population List (available at www.prisonstudies.org) the rate of incarceration of only sentenced prisoners in China is one-fourth the rate for sentenced prisoners in state and federal facilities in the US.

Further, the US incarcerates at a rate 4 to 7 times higher than other western nations such as the United Kingdom, France, Italy, and Germany and up to 32 times higher than nations with the lowest rates such as Nepal, Nigeria, and India.

Our Mission

The Prison Scholar Fund invests in incarcerated students, empowering them to realize their post-secondary educational aspirations, and advocates for correctional reform, bolstering grassroots pressure to amend the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994.

Core Values

• Every inmate has the potential to become a law-abiding and contributing member of society.
• Quality education bestows knowledge which unlocks human potential.
• Every inmate should have access to quality education regardless of ability to pay.
• Those most affected by a problem should have the chief hand in its solution.