WVa College--$6,500. Jail--20,000

The Charleston Gazette Reports that:

In West Virginia (which has the highest incarceration growth rate in the country) taxpayers pay about $6,500 each year for every full-time college student in the state. But taxpayers must pay almost $20,000 a year for each person incarcerated by the Division of Corrections. According to a new report expenses for Corrections are eating away at the rest of the state’s budget and at the expense of education.