Providing an ivy-league college education to inmates: I understand the dilemma they describe here of providing funds to educate prisoners (versus helping victims of crime or preventing crime in youths.) The latter are worthwhile efforts, but those individuals do have lots of opportunities in life still. The mind-numbing emptiness of prison can easily lead to rage and frustration and planning a return to a life of crime. Recidivism comes from the hopelessness of life after prison, while educating prisoners provides the hope of being able to offer something useful to society. Although the tuition at the college nearby is $51000, the marginal cost of providing this education to inmates is much less than this, and a reasonable philanthropic effort for the university to take on. I applaud them for taking this on.
N.Y. / REGION November 16, 2009
City Room: College Ivy Sprouts at a Connecticut Prison
By ALISON LEIGH COWAN
Inmates' access to higher education was sharply crimped by a 1994 crime bill that made them ineligible for federal grants. But last spring, two Wesleyan University students persuaded the university to embark on a daring experiment that brings an elite college education inside a high-security prison. | 
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