The analysis considered not only the known costs of incarcerations but also the taxes lost from wage earners, food stamps and welfare for families of incarcerated persons, family Medicaid, housing for the family, public defenders, and prison overhead. The analysis revealed that the total costs of $23,257 per inmate are more than double the amount budgeted by the Alabama Department of Corrections. Findings support several recommendations: (1) that correctional education programs be expanded in both vocational and academic areas, (2) that Alabama judges make attendance and completion of a correctional education program an integral part of the sentencing process, and (3) that the Alabama State Board of Education develop a catalog describing the courses and locations of correctional education programs and place this catalog in the hands of each trial judge in Alabama.