Kansas colleges outline prison education models and practical hurdles after Pell restoration

Summary

Kansas colleges described how restored Pell eligibility has reshaped prison education: models that mirror campus programs, differing FAFSA workflows (paper vs. electronic), institutional write-offs for costs Pell does not cover, and cooperative state-level partnerships to smooth credit transfer and operations.

Kansas colleges and a federal financial-aid specialist on the Midwestern Higher Education Compact webinar described how restored federal Pell eligibility for incarcerated students is reshaping program design, financial aid workflows and partnerships in the state.

"They are our students in a college," said Sheila Myman, a prison education specialist at the National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators (NASFAA), summarizing the panel's approach to treating incarcerated learners as full college students while also following stricter PEP (prison education program) rules. Myman outlined what she called the "return of Pell" after the Second Chance Pell experiment, and she walked listeners through Title IV responsibilities that remain in place — satisfactory academic progress, lifetime eligibility limits and administrative-capability requirements — as well as PEP-specific safeguards such as best-interest determinations and carceral-authority oversight.

Two Kansas institutions — the University of Saint Mary and Colby Community College — described different program models and operational choices. Dr. Nicole Hesescalante, associate vice president for academics at the University of Saint Mary, said the university has taught inside prisons since the 1980s, participated in…

Kansas colleges outline prison education models and practical hurdles after Pell restoration

Summary

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