Many Ohio Prison Inmates Lack High School Diplomas, GEDs

Many Ohio prison inmates do not have a high school diploma or GED, according to a January 2011 report from the legislative committee that oversees Ohio’s prisons and youth services facilities.

And what the Correctional Institution Inspection Committee calls the “joint ills of overcrowding and budget cuts” mean that academic and career-technical programs have long wait lists, according to the report.

The oversight committee says:

Most [inmates] will not receive [a diploma] by their release. Not only is this unfortunate for the inmates, but it also results in a situation of ever more inmates crowded into tighter spaces with even fewer constructive or rehabilitative opportunities.

Furthermore, lack of programming has a direct impact on taxpayer dollars. Many studies show that education has a significant effect on the likelihood of recidivism. As long as Ohio continues to shuffle offenders through the system without helping them obtain educational services, Ohio taxpayers will continue to pay to incarcerate the same offenders.

Note: An earlier version of this story misstated when this report was published. It was published in January 2011. It also misstated the number and proportion of inmates without a high school diploma or GED. The headline and story content have been updated to remove the incorrect information. The Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Corrections says that about 80 percent of people entering the prison system are high school dropouts. We’ve explained the discrepancy between the Correctional Institution Inspection Committee report and the DRC numbers in a follow-up story.