More money spent on prisons than colleges: study

Jet, March 17, 1997

More money is being spent to build prisons than to build universities, according to a recent analysis of state and federal budget priorities.

From 1987 to 1995 state government expenditures on prisons increased by 30 percent while spending on higher education fell by 18 percent, the study reported. It was conducted by the Justice Policy Institute, a research and advocacy organization in Washington, D.C.

Spending by states on prison construction increased by $926 million nationwide while building funds for higher education decreased by about the same amount.

From 1980 to 1994 the number of adults in prison nationwide jumped from 320,000 to 992,000, according to the Justice Dept. Over the same period, enrollment in institutions of higher education increased from 12 million to 14.7 million people, according to the Education Dept.

The report argues that "prisons are not only costly and ineffective for most nonviolent offenders, they also siphon funding from vital programs such as higher education." The report recommends a moratorium on new prison construction and a 50 percent reduction in the nonviolent prisoner population over the next five years.