Graduate Financial Aid

Tuesday Rant (a tongue-in-cheek observation)

Believe it or not it’s still possible in 2009 to get three squares a day, a roof over your head, and a college degree for the bargain basement price of $0. So how can you get a piece of this all American pie? Simple. Get arrested.

Correctional education, perhaps the greatest perk of all for inmates, involves vocational training or academic education as part of a prisoners rehabilitation and preparation for life outside prison. It’s these educational programs that allow many inmates to emerge from behind bars in better shape, financially speaking, than many law abiding citizens who are struggling mightily to make ends meet due in large part to sizable student loans payments. Most graduate students these days carry debt totalling over $40,000 and face monthly payments in excess of $400.

Between teachers volunteering their time and publishers donating books, as is the case at San Quentin State Prison in California, inmates are getting a top flight education for free. How fair is that? I’ve got the perfect slogan for a state penitentiary. “Commit the crime. Do your college time. All on the taxpayers dime.”

I guess all that’s left is to determine which non deadly crime will get you 4-5 years behind bars. I’d really hate to see someone paroled early prior to getting their bachelors degree in criminal justice, that would be just tragic.