Letters were sent to all 50 States and the District of Columbia requesting information about the availability of academic and vocational programs during August 1996. States that did not respond after 10 weeks were contacted by telephone. Information was finally received from 474 facilities in 30 States. Findings revealed general education programs were readily available throughout the United States, while post-secondary correctional education programs were not quite as widespread. Women's prisons appeared to offer equal opportunities in basic education and post-secondary education programs, compared to men's prisons. Although prisons were offering a greater variety of vocational opportunities than ever before, women's prisons were more likely than men's prisons to offer gender-stereotyped vocational training. Specifically, women's prisons were significantly more likely than men's prisons to offer training in technical, sales, administrative, and service occupations. Regional location and security level, as opposed to other prison-level characteristics, had strong predictive effects on post-secondary educational and vocational program availability. 23 references, 5 endnotes, and 4 tables