It’s Gotten Harder for Illinois Prisoners to Get Into College Classes
The number of Illinois prisoners who want to take college-level courses is outpacing the state’s capacity to ensure access to them. According to data from the Illinois Department of Corrections (DOC), the waitlist for college classes has gone up by 80% since 2025. Of the 30,000 prisoners in Illinois, 2,600 of them are enrolled in higher education, and 3,700 are on the waitlist.
“That’s a pretty powerful indicator that the challenge isn’t a lack of interest in education–it’s our capacity to meet that interest,” Ashton Klekamp, policy and research director at the Education Justice Project, told WBEZ.
There’s ample research showing that education programs help prisoners find employment after release and reduces recidivism. Despite the known benefits, it was only in 2023 that Illinois lawmakers passed legislation requiring the DOC to publish annual enrollment data, waitlists and education spending figures. Most states have yet to pass similar requirements.
Demographically, white Illinois prisoners are significantly overrepresented in higher education, while Black and Hispanic prisoners are underrepresented. White prisoners make up a third of the total prison population but nearly half of those enrolled. About 160 women prisoners are in higher education, which is roughly proportional to their share of the total incarcerated population (although the participation rate declined by about 25% last year). The average age of an enrollee is 39 and has about 4.4 years left on their sentence.
Where someone is locked up in Illinois plays a large role in their ability to access courses. Danville Correctional Center, for example, has the longest average wait at nearly 5.5 years. An individual at Big Muddy River, which is Southeast of St. Louis, has been on the waitlist since October 2006. In contrast, 78% of prisoners at the Sheridan Correctional Center, which is outside of Chicago, are either studying or waiting for a spot, largely due to the fact that the prison absorbed Northwestern University’s bachelor’s program after a separate prison, Stateville, closed in 2024.
Source: WBEZ
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