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 (April 2003) by Peter Wagner, published by the Western Prison Project and the Prison Policy Initiative.

Footnotes

427 Justice Policy Institute, Cellblocks or Classrooms? August 2002.

428 Justice Policy Institute, Cellblocks or Classrooms? August 2002.

429 Justice Policy Institute, Cellblocks or Classrooms? August 2002.

430 Justice Policy Institute, Cellblocks or Classrooms? August 2002.

431 Justice Policy Institute, Cellblocks or Classrooms? August 2002.

432 Justice Policy Institute, Cellblocks or Classrooms? August 2002.

433 Justice Policy Institute, Cellblocks or Classrooms? August 2002.

434 Justice Policy Institute, Cellblocks or Classrooms? August 2002.

435 Justice Policy Institute, Cellblocks or Classrooms? August 2002.

436 Justice Policy Institute, Cellblocks or Classrooms? August 2002.

437 Justice Policy Institute, Cellblocks or Classrooms? August 2002.