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A photographer takes a picture of an incarcerated man, wearing a graduation cap, gown, a Mexican sarape print stole and a green stole that reads, "T.O.P.S.S." in front of a gray backdrop. The picture was taken outside on a lawn surrounded by barbed wire fences.
Closing Argument July 8
Students Behind Bars Regain Access to College Financial Aid
Restored Pell Grant eligibility means about 760,000 people in prisons could eventually afford higher education.
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An illustration shows a Black man next to a Black power symbol in a blue graduation cap and gown, holding an orange diploma cover, as paper cranes fly around him.
Life Inside September 2, 2022
My Wild and Winding Path to a College Degree Behind Bars
Rahsaan “New York” Thomas was proud to finally earn his associate’s degree in San Quentin State Prison. But repeated COVID-19 lockdowns turned his graduation ceremony into a two-year ordeal.
By Rahsaan “New York” Thomas
An illustration shows Christopher Blackwell, as a child at school with his head on the desk at the left; as an adult in prison writing at a desk with books nearby in the center; and speaking at a podium on the right.
Life Inside April 15, 2022
I Grew Up Believing I Was Dumb. A College Education Behind Bars Healed That Wound
“My college degree taught me that anything is possible when you show someone how to love themselves, through accountability, vulnerability and education.”
By Christopher Blackwell
News December 17, 2020
How Trump Made a Tiny Christian College the Nation’s Biggest Prison Educator
His administration has funneled $30 million to Ashland University in Ohio. Critics say the school’s tablet-based program fails incarcerated students.
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Life Inside April 5, 2018
Finding College by Way of Prison
“Taking classes helped me forget that I wasn’t free.”
By Marcus Lilly, as told to
Inmates at the Jessup Correctional Institution in Maryland listened as then-Education Secretary Arne Duncan announced in 2015 that his department would begin a pilot program to give prisoners access to Pell grants.
News March 28, 2018
The Uncertain Fate of College in Prison
Obama revived Pell grants for prisoners, but the program faces a cloudy future.
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Carolyn Jordan-Daniels at her home in Highland, Calif. Her great-uncle, Nelson Nash, was murdered by a mob in Louisiana after being wrongly arrested.
Feature January 3, 2017
Getting Away With Murder
Researching lynching cold cases, law students restore history.
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Family and friends of Armando Villa during a rally Wednesday, July 9, 2014, to call for an end to fraternity hazing at Cal State Northridge, in Northridge, California. A school investigation found that Villa, a student at CSUN, died in a hazing incident while on a hike with a fraternity.
News August 21, 2016
Does College Hazing Defy the Laws It Spawned?
Many states bar dangerous rituals, but little seems to change.
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