Thread by @BradleyDeanC

🎉 The final regulation for the Prison Education Program was published in the Federal Register today. Here’s a thread on major changes and improvements. 1/14 #PellYes #negreg #highered federalregister.gov/documents/2022…

👏 First, hats off to the staff at ED/FSA who carefully reviewed public comments and thoughtfully responded to recommendations. The regulation is indeed improved following this process! 2/14

🚨Big win🎉: ED moved the post-release outcomes metrics as part of the best interest determination from being required to optional. This is another concession in the “must/may” debate that also made recidivism and completion rates optional. 3/14

Related: ED amended the metric related to post-release earnings. Outcomes for formerly incarcerated PEP students will no longer be compared to high school graduates. Here's the new metric 4/14

🚨Personal priority win🎉: ED removed a provision that would have tacitly given colleges permission to deny admission to formerly incarcerated PEP students on the outside. (Note: colleges can still do this; they just don’t deserve a regulatory basis for doing so). 5/ #banthebox

❌Not surprisingly, ED did not remove the BOP or state DOCs from their oversight and PEP approval authorities. Nearly all advocates wanted this, but Congress designed the program this way. Still much to think through on accountability for “oversight entities.” 6/14

❌Another loss on accountability: ED declined to create an appeals process, even after again indicating it would be a good idea. 7/14

Jails and juvenile facilities are still in, but ED emphasized that only people serving a criminal sentence have to enroll in a PEP to access Pell. Those not serving a criminal sentence (e.g., in a jail) can still use “regular” Pell if a college offers courses there. 8/14

❌ Unfortunately, ED declined to address student eligibility. While there are no restrictions in the law, colleges and prisons can continue to set eligibility restrictions for things like sentence length, release date, conviction type, and disciplinary record. 9/14

‼️Transition: ALL programs must apply for PEP status using the two-year initial approval process, including existing Second Chance Pell programs. No exceptions. Transition plan for SCP to PEP coming soon. 10/14

➕More on 2-year initial approval: Important clarification that new programs won’t go through the determination of best interest until AFTER 2 years. This was always confusing. The initial review will entail "whatever information" is available. 11/14

✅ED made many clarifications on things like the 75% waiver cap, termination/limitation, additional PEPs at the same location. ❌And they declined to make many other clarifications, especially on creating or elaborating definitions of various concepts. 12/14

Need info? You can email pep at ed dot gov for technical assistance. Also, a website with guidance is coming soon. There will be a lot for FSA to explain on what these regulations mean and how to implement them. 13/14

These regs were a long time coming. It’s been almost 2 years since Congress restored Pell Grants to incarcerated students, and it’s been a year since #negreg happened. Now comes the push to get colleges, accreditors, and corrections agencies ready to serve more students! 14/14 🎃