Don Brunell: Inmate College Scholarships Shine Light on Mounting Student Debt

The Obama Administration announced it will begin providing Pell grants to federal prisoners, effectively overturning a 1994 ban on the practice. While overturning the ban requires Congressional action, the administration is circumventing Congress by designating the plan a "pilot program."

If allowed to stand, the administration’s unauthorized action would be costly to taxpayers. From 1972-95, before Congress issued the ban, inmates received $34.6 million a year in Pell grants. Under the new pilot, prisoners will receive up to $5,775 for tuition, books and other related expenses – money which d...