NY Governor Andrew Cuomo
ALBANY – Gov. Andrew Cuomo is proposing to fund college classes in New York prisons and using public money to do so. Saying a college degree will reduce the likelihood an inmate will return to crime when released, Cuomo announced the new program via a media release on Monday.
The program will offer associate and bachelor’s degree education at 10 prisons, one in each region of the state.
According to Cuomo’s office, New York currently spends $60,000 per year on each prisoner, and it will cost approximately $5,000 per year to educate an inmate. The state will issue a Request for Proposal from qualified educational associations in March.
Since 2007, the state Department of Corrections has partnered with colleges, including Cornell University and Bard College, to offer privately funded degree programs at 22 prisons.
The new plan would need to be approved by the legislature.
[…] – A Western New York state senator is attacking Governor Andrew Cuomo’s proposal to use public money to provide college education to prison […]