As reported in Politico, the recent COVID-19 relief and government funding bill in Congress would reinstate Pell grants to students serving time in prison. Prisoners have been ineligible for the Pell grant since the 1994 crime bill prohibited prisoners from having access to public funding for their education, with the exception of a small group under a pilot program.
Additionally, it appears that the bill would repeal an older law that made it harder for college students to qualify for federal financial aid if they had been convicted of a drug crime.