"Despite the claim made in the article title, the cited study by Romaine Campbell and Logan Lee-"A Second Chance at Schooling? Unintended Consequences of Prison Education" (July 1, 2025), which is an unpublished working paper- does not find that prison education causes an increase in reincarceration. In fact, as stated in the study's abstract, there is "no relationship between education and reincarceration after we control for release type." Instead, the observed increase in reincarceration in the study is related to work-release and technical violations."
"The study authors themselves caution against interpreting the findings as evidence that education is harmful (p. 20, Campbell & Lee, 2025), and identify systemic supervision and release practices as the key drivers of observed outcomes. They also find evidence that education may improve postrelease employment outcomes (p. 31, Campbell & Lee, 2025). The underlying framework of the study around the "unintended consequences" of prison education is nevertheless problematic."
A national organization for higher education in prison challenges misleading framing and sensationalism that can harm incarcerated learners and the field. An unpublished analysis relying on limited data does not demonstrate that participation in higher education causes increased reincarceration when release type is controlled. Observed increases in reincarceration were associated with work-release placements and heightened supervision, which raise the likelihood of technical violations. Caution is urged against interpreting these findings as evidence that education is harmful; systemic supervision and release practices are identified as the primary drivers. Evidence also indicates potential postrelease employment benefits from education.
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