In the heated discussion of college education, one controversial issue has been if the Pell Grant program for inmates would be beneficial as a whole. On the one hand, many in congress argues that a college degree will reduce the recidivism of inmates. On the other hand, some college students contend that it will reduce the amount of aid they get from Pell Grant. My own view is that there should be very strict criteria and that only a small percentage per year be given this great opportunity to receive a college education.
Every semester, there are an abundant number of students who apply for Pell Grant to assist them with the costs of college. Sometimes, students will not meet the financial criteria because their parent’s income is a bit too high or because of other financial factors that they will not qualify. Thus, it puts a student in a situation where they will take out student loans, that they’ll be paying for many years. Clearly, the result of being someone who has not committed a crime and works to pay for their own education, is the one that pays the ultimate price. Yet, congress wants to financially grant prison inmates a free education, while exemplary citizens are denied. As with other controversial topics, there should be a list of well-thought-out key factors to consider. A few of them to contemplate would be, costs, severity of the crime committed, length of prison term (i.e., short term, life term or death row), and if they are to be mandated to pay