Herkimer College Receives 'Ready for Pell' Grant, Expanding College in Prison Program

Herkimer County Community College is one of 22 recipients of the Jobs for the Future/Ascendium Education Group’s Ready for Pell strategic initiative. Ready for Pell is designed to help institutions that provide postsecondary education in prisons navigate the upcoming changes to the Federal Pell Grant program for student financial assistance, giving learners who are incarcerated new opportunities for educational attainment and increased economic mobility.

The two-year, $120,000 Ready for Pell grant will expand Herkimer College’s current College in Prison Program in advance of the restoration of Pell Grant eligibility in 2023. Since 1994, people who are incarcerated have been prohibited from receiving Pell Grants, resulting in a decrease in postsecondary education prison programs and negatively impacting reentry outcomes and recidivism patterns.

Herkimer College, a member of the Hamilton-Herkimer College in Prison consortium since 2017, offers a Liberal Arts & Sciences: General Studies associate of arts degree for men incarcerated in the Mohawk Correctional and Mid-State Correctional facilities. It is presently supported by private foundational funds through its partnership with Hamilton College. To date, 15 students have successfully graduated from the program.

“Administering our college in prison program and teaching ‘on the inside’ have been the most rewarding experiences of my academic career,” shares Herkimer College Associate Dean of Academic Affairs Robin Riecker. “I am privileged to work for an institution that lives its mission and values out loud and that sees the potential in every student, regardless of situation or life circumstance.  This Ready for Pell grant will help us not only to expand our degree offerings but also extend our student-services opportunities at the two locations. Every student deserves rigorous and relevant academic coursework; access to academic and financial advising; and the opportunity to succeed – this is what our college offers daily to our main campus students. And now, because of this grant, we will be able to offer more of these opportunities for our incarcerated students.”

Through this initiative, Herkimer College plans to expand programming to include associate degrees in Psychology and Small Business Management. The grant will also expand the College’s capacity to implement new processes and develop a communications system for proposed workshops such as career exploration and financial literacy.

Many research studies suggest that providing education to incarcerated individuals is one of the most effective strategies for transitioning individuals out of incarceration back to their communities.

“The Rand Corporation, for example, found that individuals who participate in education programs in prison are 43 percent less likely to return to prison and 13 percent more likely to find employment after release,” Riecker explains – citing a 2013 study. “But beyond all the cost-saving statistics and lower recidivism rates calculated by numerous studies, the most compelling reason we should continue to offer education programs to incarcerated individuals is simple – because it is the right thing to do.”

Herkimer College and SUNY University at Buffalo are the only individual colleges awarded the Ready for Pell grant in New York State. Additionally, The Research Foundation for the State University of New York is named a recipient for its system-level efforts to plan, expand, and improve college-in-prison programs within the SUNY system.