Somewhere on a desk in the federal Department of Education building in Washington D.C. sits a pile of unopened mail from incarcerated student loan borrowers.
The person responsible for opening them was among the Education Department employees laid off in the past several weeks.
After last week’s purge of nearly half of the Education Department’s workforce, everyone navigating federal financial aid faces challenges — including processing delays, reduced oversight of loan servicers, and diminished customer service. For incarcerated students and borrowers, however, these widespread problems are magnified. They can’t simply pick up a phone to call their loan servicer, check email for updates, or log into online portals.
There are also more questions than answers about how higher education in prison programs will be affected given the unprecedented changes at the Education Department. In July 2023, approximately 700,000 incarcerated students became eligible for Pell Grants when the ban on federal financial aid for people in prison was fully lifted. But the expansion of new programs has been slow even before staff were laid off.
While department officials confirm that new prison education programs have been approved in the weeks since Trump took office, there’s concern that the layoffs will slow the approval process even more and limit support for incarcerated students and borrowers. To further complicate things, President Donald Trump on Thursday signed an executive order which calls on the Secretary of Education to take all necessary steps to facilitate the closure of the Education Department.
“Students in prison are often out of sight, out of mind, and they need advocates at the table when decisions get made about the programs that affect them,” said Ruth Delaney, director of the Vera Institute of Justice’s Unlocking Potential initiative.
Incarcerated borrowers’ access to services will be limited even further
For incarcerated individuals, being able to get student loans out of default is a requirement to be eligible for Pell Grants, which is often their only way to fund their education. The timing is especially challenging as the Education Department’s “Fresh Start” initiative, a temporary program under the Biden administration to help borrowers bring loans into good standing, expired at the end of September 2024. Now, borrowers must navigate the standard rehabilitation process, which typically requires nine consecutive monthly payments of at least $5 to restore their federal aid eligibility.
Education Department staff tasked with responding to complaints from incarcerated borrowers were among those laid off last week, according to an federal student aid employee who asked not to be named because of possible litigation. For incarcerated students, the elimination of dedicated staff could mean losing their only pathway to resolving loan issues and accessing Pell Grants.
Many incarcerated borrowers reported challenges communicating with the department even before the layoffs, writing to different divisions such as the default resolution group for months without getting a response. Incarcerated borrowers may also attempt to resolve issues directly with their student loan servicer but they may not know who their servicer is. Previously federal student aid staff could provide that information.
While the Education Department’s Ombudsman Office — tasked with responding to complaints about federal student aid — received almost 300,000 submissions in fiscal year 2024. Most of these came through online portals. Incarcerated individuals, however, rely almost exclusively on postal mail. The volume of correspondence is significant. The department receives hundreds of physical letters from incarcerated borrowers annually. With cuts eliminating the personnel who process these letters, staff facing layoffs expressed concern to Open Campus about who will handle this workload.
Much of the department’s student loan servicing has been outsourced to private contractors, and these third-party companies lack the specialized knowledge and systems needed to effectively serve incarcerated borrowers, FSA staff said. The contractors primarily handle standard cases that come through online portals or phone calls, but they aren’t equipped to address the unique circumstances of incarcerated borrowers. These borrowers often have complex situations that require specialized knowledge of both the prison system and loan rehabilitation options — expertise that was concentrated in the units that have now been affected by the cuts.
Staff cuts could slow prison education program approval process
Since Pell Grants for incarcerated students were reinstated two years ago, the approval of Pell-eligible prison education programs has been slow. Colleges are required to navigate a complex application and approval process involving state corrections departments, accrediting agencies and the U.S. Education Department. As of December 2024 — the last time the official list was updated – the department approved 64 programs at 21 colleges.
Sheila Meiman, prison education specialist at the National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators (NASFAA), confirmed that while programs are still being approved, the future is uncertain. “We have concerns that significant reductions in staff could negatively impact the government’s ability to administer those programs,” Meiman said.
These delays have real consequences for incarcerated students, including delaying their education, she added.
Despite these concerns, a source familiar with the process told Open Campus the department intends to continue reviewing prison education program applications and is looking for ways to expedite the process. It also remains unclear how much additional layoffs would ultimately delay the processing of applications from colleges seeking Pell approval for their prison education programs.
The uncertainty surrounding the Education Department’s future and potential broader cuts to federal financial aid may also impact colleges’ willingness to establish new prison education programs, experts told Open Campus. There’s growing concern that institutions may be hesitant to invest in these programs amid possible federal and state budget cuts, especially since prison education programs often require additional funding during their startup period before becoming financially sustainable.
“We’re still assessing and observing, just like everybody else is,” Meiman said. “We’re … trying to stay focused on assuring that programs are compliant with federal regulations and that students are served in the best manner possible.”
The administration’s policies and priorities on prison education remain unclear
Neither the Education Department nor the Trump Administration have made any statements about their policies or priorities regarding prison education programs, leaving institutions and advocates uncertain about the future.
Delaney pointed out that Pell reinstatement for incarcerated individuals is actually one of the Trump administration’s achievements from his first term. “Throughout his administration, his Department of Education championed Second Chance Pell and expanded it,” she said.
She said that there has been strong bipartisan support for prison education programs at the state level. “The programs are recognized for their value in every type of political environment,” Delaney said. “The corrections agencies we’re working with are continuing to seek out and approve new prison education programs.”
However, communication between the Education Department and the field of higher ed in prison is limited at the moment, Delaney added, noting that corrections agencies and colleges “really need assurances that programs are going to keep getting approved and that there’s still support for this policy.”
Delaney also expressed concern about potential threats to the program, including the Trump administration’s stated plan to close the Department of Education and the budget reconciliation bill moving through Congress by Sept. 30, which proposes cutting $330 billion from education and workforce programs.
The Pell program already faces a projected shortfall of nearly $3 billion for the next fiscal year, and a $10 billion shortfall in 2026-27, which could affect eligibility criteria or benefit amounts for the approximately 7 million students across the country who rely on these grants, according to a recent analysis from The Institute for College Access and Success, also known as TICAS.
Without additional funding, federal student aid programs may face changes that could disproportionately impact the most vulnerable populations — including incarcerated students. “Students that don’t have clear advocates at the table need to have their interests represented in these conversations,” Delaney said.