I went to prison but now I'm a professor — here's why criminal records should not be used to keep people out of college

John Moore/Getty Images

• Professor Stanley Andrisse is a testament to how education can turn people's lives around. 
• He was sentenced to 10 years in prison for drug trafficking in his 20s — now he's an endocrinologist teaching medicine at Johns Hopkins and Howard University.
• Andrisse says that the more education a person has, the less likely they are to return to prison.
• Lowering costs through Pell grants would help remove barriers for incarcerated or formerly incarcerated people who wish to pursue higher education.
• Another step to take would be to remove Question 23 from the federal student aid form, which asks if applicants have been convicted of drug crimes.

Beginning next year, the Common Application — an online form that enables students to apply to the 800 or so colleges that use it — will no longer ask students about their criminal pasts.See the rest of the story at Business Insider

NOW WATCH: How Columbia House sold 12 CDS for $1

See Also:

• 4 strategies that other countries can use to deal with Donald Trump
• Xi Jinping's ideology is getting in the way of achieving what he set out to do for China
• Trump is the first US president to get Turkey right