HB3648 EnrolledLRB103 26177 RJT 52536 b

1    AN ACT concerning education.
 
2    Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
3represented in the General Assembly:
 
4    Section 1. Short title. This Act may be cited as the Higher
5Education in Prison Act.
 
6    Section 5. Higher education in prison programs.
7    (a) In this Section, "higher education" means
8post-secondary academic education at the undergraduate or
9graduate level in a community college or university setting.
10    (b) On or before September 1 of the year following the
11effective date of this Act and each subsequent September 1,
12the Department of Corrections shall release a report, to be
13published on the Department of Corrections's Internet website,
14detailing the following information pertaining to higher
15education within Department institutions and facilities:
16        (1) the number of unique individuals involved in adult
17    basic education, high school equivalency, and credit and
18    non-credit bearing higher education programs over the
19    course of the fiscal year;
20        (2) the racial, ethnic, age, and gender breakdown of
21    committed persons participating in higher education
22    programs;
23        (3) the length of sentence and length of remaining

 

 

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1    sentence of persons enrolled in higher education programs;
2        (4) the number of committed persons who are on waiting
3    lists for participation in all educational programs,
4    including adult basic education, high school equivalency,
5    and higher education, and the average length of time spent
6    on each waiting list, including a breakdown by length of
7    remaining sentence;
8        (5) the total amount of earned program sentence credit
9    awarded to committed persons for participating in higher
10    education programs and the percentage of committed persons
11    participating in higher education programs that are
12    awarded earned program sentence credit;
13        (6) the number, category, and ultimate resolution of
14    grievances related to higher education programs;
15        (7) a financial statement that includes annual and
16    monthly expenditures of Department of Corrections
17    institutions and facilities on adult basic education, high
18    school equivalency, and higher education programs; and
19        (8) an explanation of how participation in adult basic
20    education, high school equivalency, and higher education
21    programs is factored into a committed persons' risk
22    assessment score.
23    Personal, identifiable information shall be redacted to
24protect privacy.
25    The report must be filed with the Governor and General
26Assembly.

 

 

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1    (c) The data provided in the report under subsection (b)
2shall include an aggregate chart at the Department level and
3individual reports by each correctional institution or
4facility of the Department of Corrections.
5    (d) To facilitate the collection of information on higher
6education in prison (HEP) programs, each 4-year public or
7private institution of higher education with HEP degree or
8certificate programs shall provide the Board of Higher
9Education with student-level information as part of its
10regular agency data-collection processes. Each public
11community college with HEP degree or certificate programs
12shall provide the Illinois Community College Board with
13student-level information as part of its regular agency
14data-collection processes. Upon request, the student-level
15information shall include the correctional facility in which
16the HEP program is being offered. The information provided to
17the Board of Higher Education and the Illinois Community
18College Board shall include HEP enrollment and completion data
19disaggregated by variables, including but not limited to,
20race, ethnicity, gender, age, and type of degree or
21certificate. The Board of Higher Education and the Illinois
22Community College Board shall annually make HEP program data
23publicly available on their Internet websites.