Enabling individuals to grow their capacity through continuing education while incarcerated reduces the likelihood of recidivism by as much as 43%. It’s now a well-published fact, and there are many programs and professionals across America dedicated to structured higher education programs as a critical component of measurable rehabilitation.
NIA has launched a project to explain how post-secondary education helps transform those who are incarcerated, and the gaps in adult development that can prevent many root causes of crime. We call this exploration BRILLIANCE BEYOND BARS
Dr. Kathryn Rice
Dr. Kathryn Rice serves on NIA’s Advisory Council and is the principal investigator of the Brilliance Behind Bars (BBB) research project. She earned her B.A. in Government at Harvard and her Ph.D. in Public Policy at Georgia Institute of Technology and Georgia State University, where she specialized in Economic Development and Urban Affairs. Dr. Rice works as a community and economic development expert who teaches graduate and undergraduate-level research methods.
Phases One and Two
Phases One and Two of the BBB project were conducted in partnership with Morehouse College and the Mellon Foundation for the college’s Movement Memory Justice (MMJ) initiative, under the direction of Dr. Clarissa Myrick-Harris White. These pilot projects were done in cooperation with the Andrew Young Center for Global Leadership (AYCGL) and the nonprofit Common Good Atlanta (CGA). CGA and the AYCGL are among several entities across the country committed to contracting professionals to teach college courses to incarcerated people as part of rehabilitation programs. BBB organized a series of interviews with alumni participants of these programs, now home from prison, who had a lot to say about the benefits of the advanced education and, more importantly, how systems can be more relevant and intentional with education to help deter behavior that leads to crime. Students from Morehouse, Clark Atlanta University, and Spelman College, whose Humanities classes related to the subject of criminal justice, were offered participation in the project. Their involvement gave them practical experience in collecting information from narratives and learning how data can be extracted from such narratives to be used as research products to help society solve specific social problems.
Phase Three
Phase Three began in the fall 2025 academic semester, with Dr. Rice teaching a class at Morehouse titled "Documenting Brilliance Behind Bars." The class extends the theory learned in classroom settings to the direct experience of organizing data that can arise from deeper conversations and debates about the collective social benefits of advanced education in the interest of public safety and justice reform.For more information, contact Dr. Kathryn Rice at: kathryn.rice@joinNIA.com
Unlock Change
This is not a debate about “free education for criminals” but a conversation about American potential. We appreciate data that show that there is underdeveloped potential in every community and that enlightenment through education, relevant education, and higher education for all, keeps us all safer and improves our collective capacity.