The Obama administration on Wednesday announced that 61 higher education institutions have signed onto the White House’s “Fair Chance” plan, in which colleges and universities make pledges to help accused or convicted people get a second chance through education.
The “Fair Chance Higher Education Plan” was first launched in June, with 25 initial signatories, including Columbia University, Arizona State University, Rutgers University and the University of California system.
Wednesday’s move continues the administration’s greater push to reform the country’s criminal justice system.
Sixty-one schools have now officially taken the pledge, which includes 172 individual campuses that serve over 1.8 million students.
“When people make mistakes, we have to focus on how we give them a meaningful second chance,” Education Secretary John King said in a statement. “We are better off as a country if we help those who have gotten off track get back on a pathway to success by giving them a fair chance to successfully reintegrate and lead productive lives in our society.”
The initiative asks schools to go “Beyond the Box,” and to specifically determine whether criminal justice-related questions are “necessary to make an informed admission decision, and if so, whether these questions should be moved to a later part of the application process … or whether the initial review of the application can be conducted without knowledge of the answers to the criminal-justice related questions.”
Schools will also support professors and students who want to teach or who are teaching in correctional facilities, as well as ensure internships and job training are available to anyone with a criminal record by agreeing to the pledge.
