Loyola University’s Prison Education Program Approved by the U.S. Department of Education

The U.S. Department of Education has approved Loyola University’s Prison Education Program at B.B. Rayburn Correctional Center, paving the way for incarcerated students to access Pell Grants to help fund their educations.

Loyola is the only four-year college based in Louisiana to earn the Department of Education’s approval. Two other schools – Louisiana Delta Community College, in Monroe, and Upper Iowa University, which is based in Fayette, Iowa, and operates five satellite education centers in Louisiana, also have earned the distinction.

Stephanie Gaskill, Associate Director of Loyola’s Jesuit Social Research Institute (JSRI), which leads the school’s Prison Education Program, is the program’s lead administrator. She wrote to the students at Rayburn as soon as she learned the good news from the Department of Education.

“I emphasized that this milestone demonstrates Loyola’s commitment to them and to the long-term sustainability of the bachelor’s degree program at Rayburn,” Gaskill said. “This whole process represents a significant investment of the University’s resources, but they are worth it. Their hard work and dedication to their studies make it all worthwhile.” 

The partnership between Loyola and Rayburn, located in Angie, La., began in fall 2022 when Loyola accepted its first 20 incarcerated students and 14 correctional employees.

By 2024, the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC) had accredited Loyola’s Prison Education Program. Now, 40 students at Rayburn are pursuing a Bachelor of Applied Science degree, with specializations in Business Management and Psychology.

The approval was the culmination of a three-step process the Department of Education established to ensure Prison Education Programs are operating in the best interest of students. 

Loyola worked tirelessly to complete applications with the Louisiana Department of Public Safety and Corrections, the SACSCOC and the Department of Education. The accreditation body conducted a site visit at Rayburn as well. 

The approval of Loyola’s Prison Education Program is just the latest chapter in a decades-long story of Pell Grants – need-based financial aid that students do not have to repay – in prison.

The 1994 Crime Bill barred incarcerated students from accessing Pell Grants, leading to a precipitous decline in postsecondary education options inside prisons. Congress did not fully reverse that restriction until 2020.

Annie Phoenix, Executive Director of Loyola's Jesuit Social Research Institute, remembers her role in the movement to restore Pell Grant funding to incarcerated students.

“In 2019, I had the opportunity to join formerly incarcerated leaders in Washington, D.C., to advocate before legislators for the restoration of Pell Grant eligibility for incarcerated students,” Phoenix said. “Today, it is deeply meaningful to see our students benefit from the decades of advocacy that made this possible.”

The program hopes in the future to offer more classes per semester, shorten the time it takes to earn a degree, and ensure there are ongoing professional development and employment opportunities for students upon graduation.  

Gaskill and Phoenix also hope that Loyola’s success encourages other Louisiana colleges and universities to join the movement for higher education in prison.

“We know we can’t do it alone,” Gaskill said. “There is so much untapped talent inside Louisiana’s jails and prisons, and it will take all of us to ensure people have the resources to achieve their goals. If Loyola can do it, others can, too.”