Drs. Phoenix and Gaskill interviewed on WWNO about Loyola’s incarcerated student program

Dr. Annie Phoenix, the Executive Director of the Jesuit Social Research Institute (JSRI), and Dr. Stephanie Gaskill, a Research Associate at JSRI were interviewed about Loyola’s incarcerated student program on NPR’s Louisiana Considered. You can listen to the interview here. 

Since 2022, JSRI has led Loyola's higher education in prison work, beginning with for-credit courses for incarcerated students and staff at Rayburn Correctional Center in Angie, Louisiana.  As of August 2024, all students are degree-seeking and pursuing a Bachelor of Applied Science.  In September of 2025, Loyola received approval from the US Department of Education for its prison education program (PEP), authorizing incarcerated students to use Pell Grants at the university. 

In collaboration with faculty and staff across campus, JSRI strives to bring the full Loyola experience to students at Rayburn, thereby contributing to Loyola University New Orleans' mission to welcome students of diverse backgrounds and prepare them to lead meaningful lives with and for others; to pursue truth, wisdom, and virtue; and to work for a more just world.