Georgia Falls Behind: Brennan Center Report Names State as Blocking Prison Education While Reform Models Slash Violence and Recidivism Nationwide

Executive Summary

A March 2026 Brennan Center for Justice report profiles evidence-based prison reform initiatives across more than a dozen states — and explicitly names Georgia as one of the states that continues to prohibit incarcerated students from accessing state financial aid programs. This matters because the evidence is unambiguous: college-in-prison programs are linked to a 43% lower chance of returning to prison, and providing postsecondary education to incarcerated people could cut state prison spending by up to $365 million annually nationwide.

• Georgia blocks prison education funding while states like Michigan invest in vocational and postsecondary programs that cut recidivism rates nearly in half and generate $49,000 in savings per person per year.
• Georgia lacks independent prison oversight. Only 19 states and D.C. have established oversight mechanisms. Georgia is not among them — even as the U.S. Department of Justice maintains 43 open investigations into correctional facilities for constitutional violations.
• Evidence-based reforms work. Maine’s system-wide reforms reduced resident-on-resident assaults by 40%, staff assaults by 36%, use-of-force by 69%, and recidivism from 30.5% to 21.4%. A randomized control trial in South Carolina showed a 73% reduction in violence.
• Bipartisan supermajorities support reform. Approximately 90% of both Republicans and Democrats support requiring prisons to offer education programs. More than 80% of likely voters believe formerly incarcerated people deserve a second chance.
• The national staffing crisis demands new approaches. State prisons lost 11% of their full-time workforce from 2020 to 2023, and 26 states spent $2.2 billion on overtime from 2019 to 2024. Correctional officers’ suicide rate is 39% higher than all other professions combined.

Key Takeaway: Georgia is explicitly identified as blocking prison education funding while evidence from multiple states demonstrates that rehabilitation programs dramatically reduce recidivism, violence, and costs.

Fiscal Impact

The Cost of Inaction

Georgia’s refusal to allow incarcerated students to access state financial aid carries measurable fiscal consequences. The Brennan Center report documents that:

• College-in-prison programs could cut state prison spending by up to $365 million annually nationwide. Georgia’s share of this savings remains unrealized because the state prohibits incarcerated students from accessing state financial aid.
• Michigan saves approximately $49,000 per person per year through its declining recidivism rate, which fell to under 23% in 2024 — the second lowest in state history. Michigan achieved this in part through Vocational Villages that reduced recidivism to 15.6% for 2019 graduates, compared to a 22.1% overall state rate.
• The federal cost of incarcerating one person for one year is approximately $45,000. Every person who returns to prison because they lacked programming represents a direct draw on taxpayer resources.
• Even the least effective federal programs yield 12-22% recidivism reduction; the most effective reduce recidivism by more than 50%.

The Staffing Cost Spiral

• 26 states spent $2.2 billion on overtime from 2019 to 2024 to compensate for chronic understaffing. This represents money diverted from programming, facility maintenance, and competitive wages.
• Correctional officer mean hourly wage nationally is just over $28/hour (2023 data). Twelve states paid $46,000 or less annually, and nearly half paid less than $52,000 — while MIT estimates a family of four needs approximately $75,000 annually even in the lowest-cost-of-living state.
• The Bureau of Labor Statistics projects a 7% decline in corrections employment by 2034, meaning the staffing crisis will worsen without structural reform.

Hidden Costs to Georgia Families

• A loved one’s incarceration costs a family approximately $4,200 annually — $350 billion nationally combined. For a family at the poverty line, that represents a quarter of annual income. Georgia’s failure to invest in programming that reduces recidivism extends these costs year after year.

Key Takeaway: Georgia taxpayers bear the cost of a system that spends heavily on incarceration while blocking proven programs that reduce recidivism and save up to $49,000 per person per year.

Key Findings

Georgia Named Directly: Education Ban

On page 31, the Brennan Center states: “Some states — such as Michigan, which plans to expand its Vocational Village concept into a facility-wide postsecondary education hub — are embracing the opportunity for change. Others, such as Georgia and Pennsylvania, continue to prohibit incarcerated students from accessing state financial aid programs.”

This prohibition exists despite overwhelming evidence:

• 40% of people in state prisons have not earned a high school credential; another 45% have only a GED or diploma.
• Outside prison, 50% of the U.S. population has at least an associate’s degree.
• By 2031, nearly three-quarters of all jobs will expect some postsecondary education or training.
• Nearly 60% of formerly incarcerated people remain unemployed a year after release.

Georgia’s education ban ensures that people leave prison without the credentials the labor market demands, setting them up for unemployment and rearrest. Nationally, close to two-thirds of people released from prison are rearrested within three years.

Georgia Lacks Independent Prison Oversight

19 states and D.C. have established prison oversight mechanisms — independent ombuds offices, inspectors general, or bipartisan legislative committees. Georgia is not among them. This gap exists even as the Department of Justice maintained 43 open investigations into correctional facilities for constitutional violations as of February 2026, covering physical and sexual violence, sanitation problems, staffing deficiencies, inadequate medical and psychiatric care, overuse of solitary confinement, and crowding.

The federal government recognized the oversight imperative when it signed the Federal Prison Oversight Act on July 25, 2024, requiring regular risk-based inspections of all 122 federal prisons and creating an independent ombudsman.

Evidence-Based Models Produce Dramatic Results

Violence Reduction:
– Restoring Promise (South Carolina RCT): 73% reduction in odds of being written up for violence; 83% reduction in restrictive housing stays during first year of participation.
– Pennsylvania’s Little Scandinavia: near-zero violence in the unit while facilities statewide experienced a 21.6% increase in violence in 2024 to the highest level in 30 years. Cost of renovation: $300,000.
– Maine: 40% reduction in resident-on-resident assaults, 36% reduction in assaults on staff, 69% reduction in staff use-of-force incidents, 84% decrease in self-inflicted injuries at Maine State Prison.

Recidivism Reduction:
– Maine: three-year recidivism fell from 30.5% (2017) to 21.4% (2022) — nearly one-third reduction.
– Michigan Vocational Villages: 12.6% of participants returned to prison from 2016 to July 2023 — approximately half the return rate for all 2020 releases.
– The Last Mile (tech training): only 8% reincarcerated for a new offense as of March 2025; nearly 75% of graduates employed within six months of release.

Staff Well-Being and Safety:
– In Restoring Promise units: 97% of staff felt safe, 100% enjoyed working with residents, 80.5% liked their job.
– North Dakota’s Amend partnership achieved more than 74% reduction in solitary confinement use.
– Oregon’s Amend program: 55.7% reduction in mean disciplinary infraction rate and 73.9% decrease in assaults among participants with 3+ interactions.

The National Staffing Crisis

State prisons lost 11% of their full-time workforce from 2020 to 2023. Nearly half of state DOC administrators reported annual officer turnover rates of 20-30%. Critically, 38% of staff leave within one year, and 48% leave within one to five years.

The human toll on staff is severe: a 2017 study showed correctional officers’ suicide rate was 39% higher than all other professions combined. Reform states report that normalization models improve staff morale and retention alongside resident outcomes.

95% Will Come Home

95% of incarcerated people will eventually be released, most having received almost no programming or support. Approximately 450,000 people return home from prison each year nationwide. The question for Georgia’s legislature is not whether these people will return to Georgia communities — it is whether they return with education, skills, and treatment, or without them.

Key Takeaway: The Brennan Center directly names Georgia as blocking prison education while documenting that reform states achieve 40-73% reductions in violence and one-third reductions in recidivism through evidence-based programs.

Comparable States

The Brennan Center profiles reform initiatives across multiple states that provide direct comparisons for Georgia:

Georgia’s position: Georgia continues to prohibit incarcerated students from accessing state financial aid programs and has not established independent prison oversight. Georgia is not among the 19 states (plus D.C.) with oversight mechanisms, nor is it among the states implementing the normalization, vocational, or dynamic security models documented in this report.

Michigan’s reentry infrastructure offers a particularly relevant comparison: Michigan DOC controls both corrections and parole, issues valid ID or licenses to 99% of releases, operates a Fidelity Bonding Program that insures employers who hire formerly incarcerated people, and offers tax credits of $1,200-$9,600 per hire.

Key Takeaway: Multiple states with comparable or greater challenges than Georgia have implemented reform models producing measurable safety, recidivism, and fiscal outcomes — while Georgia blocks education access and lacks oversight.

Policy Recommendations

Based on the evidence in this report, GPS recommends that Georgia’s General Assembly consider the following legislative actions:

1. Remove the Prohibition on State Financial Aid for Incarcerated Students

Georgia is explicitly named alongside Pennsylvania as blocking incarcerated students from state financial aid. College-in-prison programs are linked to a 43% lower chance of returning to prison and could cut state prison spending by up to $365 million annually nationwide. By 2031, nearly three-quarters of all jobs will expect some postsecondary education or training. Approximately 90% of both Republicans and Democrats support requiring prisons to offer education programs. Legislation should amend state financial aid eligibility to include incarcerated students pursuing postsecondary education.

2. Establish Independent Prison Oversight

Georgia is not among the 19 states (plus D.C.) that have established prison oversight mechanisms. The federal government enacted the Federal Prison Oversight Act on July 25, 2024, requiring independent inspections and an ombudsman for all 122 federal prisons. Legislation should create an independent corrections ombudsman or inspector general with authority to conduct unannounced inspections, receive and investigate complaints, and publish public reports.

3. Pilot a Normalization Housing Unit

Pennsylvania’s Little Scandinavia unit achieved near-zero violence at a cost of $300,000 in physical renovation. The Restoring Promise randomized control trial in South Carolina demonstrated a 73% reduction in violence and 83% reduction in restrictive housing stays. Legislation should direct and fund a pilot normalization unit in at least one Georgia Department of Corrections facility, with independent outcome evaluation built into the enabling statute.

4. Expand Vocational and Technical Training

Michigan’s Vocational Villages achieved a recidivism rate of 15.6% for 2019 graduates versus 22.1% overall, and an employment rate of 64.2% — above the national 60.1%. The Last Mile’s tech training program reports only 8% reincarceration and 75% employment within six months. Legislation should establish skilled trades and technology training programs within Georgia’s correctional facilities, with employer partnership incentives including tax credits modeled on Michigan’s $1,200-$9,600 per hire structure.

5. Address the Staffing Crisis Through Reform, Not Just Pay

The report documents that reform models improve staff outcomes: in Restoring Promise units, 97% of staff felt safe and 100% enjoyed working with residents. Maine’s reforms reduced assaults on staff by 36% and use-of-force by 69%. Nationally, 38% of correctional staff leave within one year and the suicide rate is 39% higher than all other professions combined. Legislation should mandate mental health support and de-escalation training for all correctional staff, fund competitive wages, and create career advancement pathways that include reform-oriented professional development.

6. Mandate Reentry Infrastructure

Michigan issues valid ID or licenses to 99% of people released. Nearly 60% of formerly incarcerated people nationally remain unemployed a year after release. Legislation should require that every person leaving Georgia DOC custody departs with valid state identification, connections to housing and employment resources, and — where applicable — medication-assisted treatment continuity for substance use disorders.

Key Takeaway: Six specific, evidence-backed legislative actions would bring Georgia in line with reform states: removing the education aid ban, establishing oversight, piloting normalization units, expanding vocational training, reforming staffing practices, and building reentry infrastructure.

Read the Source Document

“Prison Reform in the United States: Efforts to Improve Conditions and Post-Release Outcomes”
Ram Subramanian, Lauren-Brooke Eisen, Josephine Wonsun Hahn, Jinmook Kang, Ava Kaufman, and Brianna Seid
Brennan Center for Justice at New York University School of Law, March 2026

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