Education can reduce prison sentences

BY MOE K. CLARK THE COLORADO TRUST

Soon after Bikram Mishra got out of prison in 2018, an administrator at Adams State University in Alamosa called to ask if he would teach a college class for incarcerated students. Mishra earned three business degrees from Adams State during his 12 years of incarceration, and was known for being an educator behind bars.

“At rst, I said ‘hell no.’ I didn’t want to voluntarily walk into another prison,” recalled Mishra, who is now in the Denver metro area. But after learning the classes would be taught online and thinking about the impact he could have, he agreed.

Mishra was one of a few formerly incarcerated people to testify in support of a bill passed during the 2023 state legislative session that seeks to make college degrees more accessible — and enticing — for incarcerated students in Colorado. e bill, which was signed into law by Gov. Jared Polis on April 12, decreases prison sentences for those with nonviolent felony o enses who earn accredited higher education degrees or certicates.

Under the new law, a person will receive six months o their sentence for a certi cate or other credential that requires the completion of at least 30 credit hours; one year o for an associate’s or baccalaureate degree; 18 months o their sentence for earning a master’s degree; and two years o their sentence for a doctorate degree.

Currently, three higher education institutions in Colorado o er prison programs: Adams State University, Pueblo Community College and Trinidad State College. No institution currently o ers a doctorate degree for incarcerated students and Adams State o ers the only accredited master’s degree program.

By Sept. 20, three more accredited institutions will be approved to of- fer programs, though the names of the institutions have yet to be announced. e current programs were formally launched in 2020 as part of a federal pilot program and have faced many obstacles, including COVID-19 lockdowns, severe sta ng shortages across the prison system and technology delays. e Colorado Department of Corrections is working to expand broadband capabilities within the state’s prisons, said Annie Skinner, a spokesperson for the department, in an email. e new law comes as signi cantly more incarcerated people become eligible for federal Pell Grants to pursue college through the U.S. Department of Education. Starting in July 2023, incarcerated students will be able to access the funding for the rst time in decades. Eligibility for incarcerated students was stripped in the now-infamous 1994 crime law. e nancial assistance — currently up to $7,395 per academic year — is awarded to low-income students to cover tuition and other educational expenses.

“Access to and completion of higher education programming can open up many new job opportunities” for formerly incarcerated people, Skinner wrote in an email. “Having a job has been shown to reduce recidivism which not only improves public safety but also has a positive impact on current and future generations.” at’s especially impactful for people of color who are disproportionately represented in state and federal prisons as a result of decades of racist policing practices and federal policies that led to mass incarceration. e U.S., with approximately 2 million people in prison and jails, incarcerates more people than any other country, and the number of people incarcerated has increased 500% over the last 40 years, far outpacing crime rates.

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