If you know anything about higher education in prison, it's that these programs "pay off" for taxpayers in the form of tax savings and lower rates of recidivism. But the economic justification for college behind bars misses a far more profound value, says Patrick Conway, winner of the 2021 Have You Heard Graduate Student Research Contest. Conway's research raises essential and relevant questions - about who is entitled to be educated at tax-payer expense, what kind of education they should receive, and how we view crime.
