Section III: The Prison Economy

Budget Priorities: Education vs. Incarceration

• First year that the 50 states combined spent more on building prisons than colleges427: 1995
• Number of state universities built in California, 1984-1994428: 1
• Number of prisons built in California, 1984-1994429: 21
• Increase in corrections spending in New York between 1984 and 1994430: $761 million
• Decrease in spending on state colleges and universities in New York between 1984 and 1994431: $615 million
• Average percent increase in state spending on higher education, 1985-2000432: 29%
• Average percent increase in state spending on corrections, 1985-2000433: 175%
• Number of African-American men in prison or jail, 2000434: 602,900
• Number of African-American men in higher education, 2000435: 603,032
• Increase in African-American male prison population, 1980-2000436: 460,000
• Increase in African-American male higher education population, 1980-2000437: 139,293

This page is an excerpt from The Prison Index: Taking the Pulse of the Crime Control Industry (2003) by Peter Wagner, published by the Western Prison Project and the Prison Policy Initiative..