AMARILLO, TX -- You might be surprised to know that as a Texas taxpayer, you're footing the bill for some inmates to take college classes.
You might not be surprised to learn that the vast majority of the money loaned to those inmates has never been repaid.
The program is supposed to open doors for prisoners once they get out. They can take up to three hours a semester ranging from 500 to almost a thousand dollars a semester, while promising to repay all tuition costs.
Of the almost 22,000 felon-students that have taken class in prison, only 66-30 have repaid the state in full.
Some college students we spoke to, like Jordan Hodge enrolled at Amarillo College, believes everyone should be allowed to pursue a higher education.
"I think everyone should be given a change to go to college, they shouldn't be denied just because they're prisoners."
While AC nursing student Erica Cox thinks they need to pay the money back or cut the program.
"I don't think it's very fair. They need to pay their way, maybe even more so since they're prisoners."
Here's the breakdown. In 10 years... the state has picked up the cost of classes to the tune of 26.9 million dollars. Of that, 4.7 million has been repaid...and the current classes are expected to top the 12.4 million dollar mark.
Senate Criminal Justice Committee Chairman John Whitmire, says with the state's budgets problems, programs like this should be the first things cut.
"We need to abolish it, reform it.... So I think we've got to decide if we've got those funds available, as broke as the state is, and I think the answer would be no."
Whitmire says funding for the program, outside the tuition costs, already set the state back more than 2 million dollars a year.
