prison vs. college. in michigan, prison wins
March 3, 2008, 4:22 pm
michigan is one of four states that spends more on its corrections system than higher ed.
now i know numbers like these can’t really be compared, especially b/c the states on this list (vermont, oregon, and connecticut) are of varying sizes, geographically and population-wise, but i think i can confidently say that being #2 on this is no good.
the real problem is less our higher ed funding is low, but rather…we have SO MANY PRISONERS. we are the 8th most populous state, yet we have the 6th largest prison population. at least we’re not texas, whose prisoner to nonprisoner ratio is 1:140 (michigan’s is 1:200).
feel free to look at the report and wikipedia to check my numbers.