On the campaign trail and in office, President Joe Biden proposed making two years of community college tuition-free. The idea eventually fell by the wayside after congressional opposition. 

Yet, efforts persist at the local and state level to boost college-going rates. More than 400 such programs now exist in the United States, including one called the AlamoPROMISE in San Antonio, Texas.

Photo: Chris Bacarella/Odyssey Beyond Bars 

When the COVID-19 pandemic shut down in-person classes, many college prison-education programs were forced to rely on companies that sell technology products to prisons. 

Now, as program leaders look to the future, they’re reimagining the role tech will play in a space that is uniquely restricted, and where some for-profit offerings have fallen under suspicion.

Complete College America, a national non-profit organization working to raise postsecondary attainment in the United States, has selected Arkansas, Montana, and Oklahoma for an ambitious new initiative aimed at increasing college completion and equity for students in their states.