--- description: Ed Secretary Arne Duncan hinted recently that they are “developing experimental sites” that would make Pell Grants available to prisoners title: Prisoners Could Soon Be Eligible for College Grants image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt1899301857c40c6b/69885cd2f887dc74d9e91945/arne-duncan-obama-prisoners-pell-grants.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Politics](/section/politics/) ## Politics Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [justice](/tag/justice/) ## justice Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Obama Administration Could Expand Pell Grant Eligibility to Prisoners by [Maya Rhodan](/author/maya-rhodan/) ## Maya Rhodan Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jul 28, 2015 4:15 PM CUT  Secretary of Education Arne Duncan with President Obama at the White House, in March 2015. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan with President Obama at the White House, in March 2015.Brendan Smialowski—AFP/Getty Images by [Maya Rhodan](/author/maya-rhodan/) ## Maya Rhodan Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jul 28, 2015 4:15 PM CUT The Obama administration could soon unveil a plan that would make federal college grants available to prisoners. On Monday, Secretary of Education Arne Duncan hinted [during a policy speech](http://www.ed.gov/news/speeches/toward-new-focus-outcomes-higher-education "undefined") that the administration is “developing experimental sites” that would, among other things, make Pell Grants available to “incarcerated adults seeking an independent, productive life after they get out of jail.” The Wall Street _Journal_ [reports](http://www.wsj.com/articles/pell-grants-to-be-restored-for-prisoners-1438029241 "undefined") the announcement could come as soon as Friday, when Duncan and Attorney General Loretta Lynch are slated to make a joint appearance at a prison in Maryland on Friday. The move would be the latest attempt by the Obama administration to provide opportunities to prisoners that could help reduce the national recidivism rate. According to _Inside Higher Ed_, six House Democrats introduced a bill in May that would [expand Pell Grant eligibility](https://www.insidehighered.com/quicktakes/2015/05/22/democratic-bill-pell-prisoners "undefined") to those behind bars. Congress blocked prisoners from Pell Grant eligibility in the 1990s. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3974983/obama-administration-could-expand-pell-grant-eligibility-to-prisoners/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3974983/obama-administration-could-expand-pell-grant-eligibility-to-prisoners/"},"headline":"Obama Administration Could Expand Pell Grant Eligibility to Prisoners","datePublished":"2015-07-28T16:15:01.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T09:39:30.629Z","description":"Education Secretary Arne Duncan hinted recently that administration is “developing experimental sites” that would make Pell Grants available to prisoners","url":"https://time.com/3974983/obama-administration-could-expand-pell-grant-eligibility-to-prisoners/","keywords":["justice","Education","Criminal Justice","criminal-justice reform","prisoners"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt1899301857c40c6b/69885cd2f887dc74d9e91945/arne-duncan-obama-prisoners-pell-grants.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Maya Rhodan","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/maya-rhodan/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt1899301857c40c6b/69885cd2f887dc74d9e91945/arne-duncan-obama-prisoners-pell-grants.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Arne Duncan Obama prisoners pell grants","caption":"Arne Duncan Obama prisoners pell grants","creditText":"Brendan Smialowski—AFP/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/justice/","name":"justice"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3974983/obama-administration-could-expand-pell-grant-eligibility-to-prisoners/","name":"Obama Administration Could Expand Pell Grant Eligibility to Prisoners"}}]}] ```