Campus News

Report shows states spend more on prisons than they do on colleges

Five U.S. states are spending more money on prisons than on higher education, The Chronicle of Higher Education reported.

A recent study conducted by the Pew Center revealed that from 1987–2007, all states’ spending on correctional institutes increased by an average of 127 percent, compared to the 21 percent increase in higher education funds.

Five states, however, spent more on their prison budgets than on higher education: Connecticut, Delaware, Michigan, Oregon and Vermont. The report found that on average, though, states spend 65 percent more on higher education than they do on prisons.