Teaching trades, not just textbooks: Why North Carolina needs data-driven prison education

It costs the state of North Carolina $40,000 per year to incarcerate each of our nearly 30,000 inmates, and within three years of release,  43% will return to prison . The cost of recidivism numbers in the billions each year.

N.C. invests taxpayer dollars in educational opportunities across our prison system, from adult education/GED classes all the way to technical training like HVAC repair, welding, and commercial driving certifications. Studies show that inmates who participate in prison education are more than 40% less likely to  recidivate.

Demand for skilled labor  is booming in our state's manufacturing and construction industries. Industry certification creates a direct path into family-sustaining wage careers, and studies show vocational training graduates are 28% more likely to have a job post-release. Higher wages and stable employment  drastically improve  chances of long-term success by  preventing recidivism .

The economics are undeniable. The return on investment is attractive, too. At $40,000 per inmate, per year, taxpayers spend millions annually on the 43% of inmates who will reoffend. For every dollar spent on vocational education, states  gain $13.21 back  in decreased criminal justice costs. Prison education has been found to reduce recidivism by  14.8% overall and increase employment by 6.9% for those transitioning back into the work force.

North Carolina has long utilized  prison-to-community-college programs across the state and earlier this year, Gov. Josh Stein proposed to invest significant new dollars into career and technical education offered through the state's community college system with a priority on high-demand, high-wage fields and work-based learning programs . Last budget cycle, state House legislators wanted to increase the net appropriation budget for prisoner education by $5 million per year, a 40% increase that would have provided educational opportunities to an additional 3,500 incarcerated people. Former Gov. Roy Cooper called for $5 million in recurring dollars  to expand access to higher education for incarcerated people through Second Chance Pell programs.

North Carolina was also selected to receive potentially millions of dollars in federal support to supplement these efforts. In January of 2026, Gov. Stein announced the state was one of four to be selected by the White House to receive up to $2.1 million in Fair Chance to Advance  programming. This national initiative works with select states to improve and expand education and workforce pathways for people involved in the justice system. Stein said the federal grant would "open doors to good jobs, strengthen our workforce, and prevent crime." Among other mandates, the funding will create a statewide data-collecting and sharing infrastructure to connect corrections, community colleges, and workforce development agencies.

Prison education funding is widely understood to provide positive returns for society, but there is currently little in the way of granularity that would direct legislators and administrators on how to best utilize potential funding. Expanding access to one program over another is a decision with real consequences for thousands of incarcerated individuals and  millions of dollars of taxpayer money .

Better understanding the effectiveness of state prison education programs will allow for more effective use of taxpayer funds and better overall results throughout the state.

Prison education is not a silver bullet for ending mass incarceration. But it can be part of the solution. To improve prison education nationwide, we need to better understand how to educate incarcerated people. North Carolina is taking steps toward becoming a leader in data-driven prison education, and with serious money now on the table in this budget cycle, the time to address these questions is now.

Elizabeth Carriker and Jon Chavis, academic and vocational instructors at Richmond Correctional Institution, are graduate students in public administration at the University of North Carolina at Pembroke, conducting research on correctional education outcomes in North Carolina. Martin Mayer is an associate professor at the University of North Carolina at Pembroke.