Should prisoners have access federal grants for college tuition?

President Obama has announced the next step in his plan for criminal justice reform: giving inmates access to federal Pell grants. Pell grants are federal money provided for low-income students to pay their college tuition and do not need to be repaid. Congress banned prisoners from having access to Pell grants in 1994 and the Obama administration cannot lift the ban without approval from Congress, so the Education Department is running a temporary program to test out the effectiveness of correctional education programs for prisoners. The administration believes such a program will provide prisoners with the skills needed to reenter the community and help them “avoid future contact with the justice system and become productive members of society.”