Memo looks at higher ed in prison

From 1998 through 2004, Utah System of Higher Education institutions awarded 244 associate degrees to students who took classes while serving time behind bars.

In that time, incarcerated students also earned 376 career and technical certificates or diplomas, 24 bachelor degrees and four master's degrees.

The state Board of Regents Friday was reminded that those students pay a reduced college tuition of about $100 a semester. They are people who, if employed while in prison, often earn only about 40 cents per hour.

"USHE institutions are having an increasingly difficult time keeping these programs operating and providing additional programs to meet the demand," USHE Commissioner Rich Kendell told regents in a memorandum.

The state, Kendell wrote, provides a "modest" allocation for prison education programs while expenses continue to rise along with demand for courses.

Regents barely discussed the matter in their meeting, however, and there was no action taken on the agenda item. The expectation among regents is that the issue will get plenty of floor time during the 2005 Legislature.

Included in lawmaker discussions will be a December 2004 study by the Utah Department of Corrections that showed how offenders who received an associate's, bachelor's or master's degree while in prison from 1998 to 2003 had a 23.9 percent reduction in recidivism when compared to the general prison population.

Also in Kendell's report to regents was information that direct and victim costs of new crimes in Utah amount to more than $578 million a year. For every $1 spent on offender education, there is $11 in direct public savings and victim costs, according to the report.

The plan now is for USHE, the Utah State Board of Education, the Utah Department of Corrections and "select" legislators to find additional sources of money to fund prisoner education programs.

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E-mail: sspeckman@desnews.com