The Department of Education announced that institutions of higher education participating in the Second Chance Pell experiment, as of June 30th of this year, will have the opportunity to continue to operate their programs with the agency’s approval. 

In 2020, Congress passed the FAFSA Simplification Act of 2020, which, among other things, lifted the ban on incarcerated individuals receiving a Pell Grant. As part of lifting the ban, the legislation required new program approval processes, including a new system of state approvals that is not yet in place. These new program requirements threatened to halt many existing prison education programs.

The Department initially created a Second Chance Pell experimental site in 2015 to allow institutions of higher education to provide Pell Grants to incarcerated students in up to 67 programs. The experimental site was expanded in 2020 to allow up to 67 additional programs to participate. In July 2021, the Department issued a notice allowing for a third round of institutions to apply to participate in the experimental site and awarded 73 additional institutions the opportunity. Since 2015, over 22,000 individuals have enrolled in over 200 Second Chance Pell programs across 30 states and the Federal Bureau of Prisons.

This revised experimental sites program will waive the new requirement that incarcerated students be enrolled in eligible prison education programs in order to receive a Pell Grant. This will allow students in these programs to continue to receive a Pell Grant while the institution works to meet the new programmatic requirements. 

Letters of application to participate in the revised experiment must be submitted by electronic mail to experimentalsites@ed.gov by May 18.  Any letters of interest received after May 18 may still, at the discretion of the Secretary of Education, be considered for participation. Institutions will have three years to meet the new definition of an eligible prison education program in the FAFSA Simplification Act of 2020, if approved to participate. 

In order to continue under the experimental sites program, participating institutions must reach specific milestones that demonstrate progress toward developing approved prison education programs. An institution interested in participating in the revised experiment must:

1. Notify the Department of its desire to participate in the revised experiment by submitting a letter of interest;
2. Agree to make efforts to reach the specific milestones that demonstrate progress toward developing approved prison education programs; 
3. Be in compliance with the reporting requirements under the current experiment as outlined in the Program Participation Agreement Amendment;
4. Be in compliance with Title IV HEA regulatory and statutory requirements, including administrative capability and financial responsibility; and 
5. Adequately describe in its letter of interest how it will comply with the requirements of the revised experiment outlined in the Federal Register notice.