With one in 31 adults in the United States either incarerated, on probation, or parole, you would think that there would be a greater push to reduce recidivism. The sad reality is that about 40% of the incarcerated population will be reincarcerated within 10 years of their release. This just isn’t acceptable.
Fortunately, as this chart shows there is a solution. Education has been shown to reduce the rate of incarceration significantly. There is also a correlation between how much education someone has and how likely they are to reoffend. The higher a persons educational attainment, the less likely they are to end up back in prison. Spending money on prison education programs ultimately saves tax-payers’ money. For every dollar spent on education programs, four dollars is saved on the cost of reincarceration.