Merging finance and social impact to make a better world
Prison education doesn’t just change lives—it also saves taxpayer dollars. A sweeping meta-analysis from the Mackinac Center for Public Policy shows that education programs for incarcerated individuals yield up to a 210% return on investment, reduce recidivism, and improve post-release employment and wages.
The Washington State Institute for Public Policy (WSIPP) conducted a comprehensive analysis titled “The Comparative Costs and Benefits of Programs to Reduce Crime, Version 4.0,” evaluating the economic efficiency of various crime reduction programs. By systematically reviewing evaluations from the past 25 years, WSIPP assessed whether the benefits of these programs, measured by their impact on crime reduction and the associated value to taxpayers and crime victims, outweigh their implementation costs.