U.S. Senator Dick Durbin is cosponsoring legislation that would rollback one of the provisions of the 1994 crime bill. It’s called the Restoring Education and Learning Act — or REAL Act. The bill would restore Pell Grant eligibility to people incarcerated in state and federal prisons. 

There are roughly 200 college in prison programs nationwide, including in Illinois, and there's debate over whether they make a difference.

Illinois could save millions of dollars on incarceration costs if the federal ban on Pell Grants for inmates was lifted, according to a new report from the Vera Institute of Justice.

A new study from the University of Illinois finds that student loan debt disproportionately affects the financial well-being of black and Hispanic borrowers later in life.