Indiana wants to trim cost of educating inmates

Indiana’s efforts to cut the cost of educating prison inmates could increase competition among the state’s colleges, with
Ivy Tech leading the way.

The State Student Assistance Commission is considering capping the amount it spends on
state prison inmates at $120 per credit hour, prompting colleges already facing strapped budgets to worry about keeping their
contracts with the Department of Correction.

Ivy Tech, Ball State, Oakland City and Grace College, Purdue North
Central and Indiana State University provided postsecondary education to inmates last year.
Ivy Tech’s rate, at $76 per
credit hour, was the lowest, with ISU’s at $162 the highest, The Tribune Star of Terre Haute reported.

Ivy
Tech says paying its rates for associate degree programs could have saved the student aid commission nearly $2.9 million,
which could have been distributed to students who aren’t offenders.

The community college system says it would
like to expand the number of associate degree, technical and other certificate programs it offers in state correctional institutions.
It currently has programs in three institutions and enrolled 73 students last year.

Indiana State has 347 students
in four state prison facilities. About 80 percent of their course work is for associate degrees.

Indiana State
Provost Jack Maynard says he believes the school can offer education under the cap being considered by the student aid panel
and that ISU is taking Ivy Tech’s proposal seriously.

Losing a prison contract would hurt ISU’s enrollment and
revenue and impact those who teach in the prisons, he said.

Gov. Mitch Daniels has said Ivy Tech’s proposal "shows
promise" but that the community college should not be the only provider of associate degrees and vocational education
in prisons "unless they can prove they can do it better, everywhere all the time."

Daniels said he encourages
the competition as Indiana tries to educate prisoners and give them job skills to reduce recidivism rates.

Claudia
Braman, executive director of the student aid panel, said Indiana is one a handful of states providing financial aid for prison
inmates.

The commission had to reduce its grants to non-offender students this year because of an increase in the
number of qualified applicants, she said.

Braman said the commission needs to get a legal opinion to see who has
oversight of the prison educational program and whether making a change would require legislative action.

She said
the commission will present a report to legal staff in the next month but she does not think any changes will occur before
next fall.