The United States incarcerates more people than any other country in the world, hosting approximately seven million people under correctional supervision through probation, parole, jail, or prison. The exponential growth of this “mass incarceration” system and antecedent causes remain an important subject of inquiry. A significant inflection point in its history is the Omnibus Crime Bill, passed in 1994 – a watershed legislation which eliminated Pell-eligibility for incarcerated students, precipitating a steep drop in college-in-prison programs. Resulting from the dearth of widespread government monies, current prison education programs display myriad organizational configurations and diverse ideologies. Many programs are borne of complex, idiosyncratic partnerships between universities and correctional facilities, and juggle competing ideologies, organizational missions, goals, and deliverables throughout the duration of the delivery of their programming.

This project analyzes the Saint Louis University Prison Education Program (SLU PEP) as a case study of higher education in prisons and as a public-private partnership. It examines qualitative, interview data from ten professionals involved in the development and continuing operation of the SLU PEP, either as employees of SLU or the Missouri DOC. The findings consist of a descriptive analysis of the SLU PEP, its programming, organizational structure, and partnership configuration with the Missouri Department of Corrections (DOC). In light of a successful 2016 pilot to restore funding eligibility entitled Second Chance Pell, it is crucial to understand not only the effects of higher education in prisons but also the complex partnerships and administrative innerworkings that make it possible.

Raymond Moylan would like to thank their faculty sponsor Dr. Frances Pestello for their support with this project.