Some people may wonder about the percentage of prisoners who have a high school diploma. People may think that low education may be the reason why they commit a crime. Well, crime may be related to their education, but it may not be as well because there are also prisoners who have high education, but they still do a crime.
However, let’s find out the information that I got about the percentage of prisoners who have a high school diploma below.
According to the Bureau of Justice Statistics Special Report which was written by Caroline Wolf Harlow, Ph.D. which was published in January 2003, here is what you need to know about Education and Correctional Populations.
There were around 41% of inmates in the Nation’s State and Federal prisons and local jails in 1997 and 31% of probationers had not finished high school or its equivalent. Between 1991 and 1997, the percentage of inmates in State prison without a high school diploma or GED remained the same – 40% in 1997 and 41% in 1991. Of inmates in State prisons, 293,000 in 1991 and 420,600 in 1997 had got into prison without a high school diploma, a 44% increase.
There were over 9 in 10 State prisons which provided educational programs for their inmates. Half of State prison inmates made a report that they had taken part in an educational program since their most recent admission to prison. Basic education or high school level courses, and almost a third, vocational training have been taken by around a quarter of State inmates.
According to that report, here are some highlights.
- There were 68% of State prison inmates who did not receive a high school diploma.
- There were around 26% of State prison inmates who said that they had finished the GED while serving time in a correctional facility.
- The groups of State prison inmates who had not finished high school or the GED were:
- 40% of males and 42% of females
- 27% of whites, 44% of blacks, and 53% of Hispanics
- 52% of inmates 24 or younger and 35% of inmates 45 or older
- 61% of noncitizens and 38% of U.S. citizens
- 59% with a speech disability, 66% with a learning disability, and 37% without a reported disability
- 47% of drug offenders
- 12% of those with military service and 44% with no military service
- Even though the percentage of State prison inmates who reported getting education courses while confined fell from 57% in 1991 to 52% in 1997, the number who had taken part in an educational program since admission increased from 402,500 inmates in 1991 to 550,000 in 1997.
- The groups of State prison inmates below had taken part in an educational program since their most recent admission to prison:
- 54% without a high school diploma, 60% with a GED, 42% with a high school diploma, and 43% with postsecondary education
- 52% of males and 50% of females
- 49% of whites, 54% of blacks, and 53% of Hispanics
- 58% who were 24 or younger and 47% of those 45 or older
- 54% of noncitizens and 52% of U.S. citizens
Inmates Education Levels
And here is the information about the inmate education levels according to the Zoukis Consulting Group site which can be accessed at prisonerresource.com.
If we compare with the general population of adults, prisoners are significantly less educated. If you look at the educational level of inmates, you can see that there is a deep need for education. For inmates, it is common to have only a grade eight education or less, and a high percentage of prisoners do not have a high school diploma or equivalent or a college education.
After you understand the educational spectrum of the inmate, it will be easier to understand the educational needs, programs, and challenges of the American prison system. The most comprehensive and reliable data is from a Bureau of Justice Statistics special report from January 2003, using data from ‘representative surveys’ which was conducted mostly in 1997 (Harlow, 2003).
The Reasons of Why Prisoners Dropped Out of High School
Here are some reasons why prisoners dropped out of high school as explained on the prisonerreasource.com.
- They lost their interest or behavioural or academic problems where there was more than a third and twice as many as the general population.
- They had family or personal problems – 16% of local jail inmates compared to 19% of the general population.
- They went to work or enlisted in the military – 13% of local jail inmates versus 24% of the general population.
- They went to prison – 11% of local jail inmates.
The prisoners who had military service were almost four times more likely to earn their GED or high school diploma, while drug offenders were less likely (Harlow, 2003). While there were only 18% of people outside of prison who have not obtained a high school diploma or equivalent, the inmates’ number without this level of education is much higher as you can see below.
- There were 47% of inmates in county jails.
- There were 40% of inmates in state jails.
- There were 27% of inmates in federal prison.
Inmates Getting GED
There are a lot of inmates who work toward a General Educational Development (GED) test while they are in prison. A GED is equivalent to a high school diploma and it is the highest level of education that some inmates have. Even though a high percentage of inmates did not graduate high school, however, there are a lot of them who went on to earn a GED. Here is the information about inmates who earned a GED as shown on prisonerresource.com.
- There were 75% of state inmates who failed to finish high school versus 47% who earned GED.
- There were 59% of federal inmates who failed to finish high school versus 55% who earned GED.
- There were 69% of local jail inmates who failed to finish high school versus 32% who earned GED.
Well, that’s the information about education levels including about the percentage of inmates who had not got GED and got GED according to the Bureau of Justice Statistics Special Report by Carolina Wolf Harlow, Ph.D. and also Zoukis Consulting Group where Zoukis also took the information from Harlow report.
A bookworm and researcher especially related to law and citizenship education. I spend time every day in front of the internet and the campus library.
