Abstract
Higher education for the incarcerated (HEP) is a re-energized phenomenon in the age of criminal justice reform and social change. Following the 2015 Second Chance Pell Grant Experimental Initiative (SCP), which granted select colleges tuition funding for prisoners, HEP grew exponentially. The successes of the SCP laid the groundwork for the 2020 FASFA Simplification Act. In July 2023 the 2020 FSA begins, and all those imprisoned within America may access Pell Grant Funds for higher education. Despite momentous efforts to bring higher education to the incarcerated, HEP grapples with continued challenges and lacks unified, evidence-based competency equal to normative higher education. For this new movement to be successful it needs stronger foundations for its new growth. This study presumes that HEP leaders of the SCP Era have vital leadership experiences to lend to the journey ahead of HEP. This transcendental phenomenological research study explores the dynamics of the HEP leader experience, gathers their experiences within HEP leadership, and investigates what they believe is important for HEP’s future. Thirty-five HEP leaders were interviewed to provide evidence related to their perceptions of the HEP experience and what is best for its expansion. The data equated to collective experiences dominated by Department of Corrections culture, practicalities of day-to-day needs in HEP leadership, a wealth of positive experiences that are vital to the profession and the need for foundational philosophes that guide HEP. The study revealed a style of persistent leadership that is required for HEP success and the future of its impending evolution.
Date Dissertation Completed
3-2023
Document Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Doctorate of Education
Department
Education Studies
Dissertation Advisor
Joel Traver
Dissertation Committee Members
Joel Traver, Mary Kirk, Steven Baule
Location
Winona, Minnesota
Recommended Citation
Bailey, Donavan, "College Administrator Experiences: A Phenomenological Study of Higher Education Leadership in American Prisons" (2023). Education Doctorate Dissertations. 18.
https://openriver.winona.edu/educationedddissertations/18
Included in
Adult and Continuing Education Commons, Educational Leadership Commons, Higher Education Commons, Higher Education Administration Commons, Prison Education and Reentry Commons, Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons
