Around the same time state and federal funding was being cut for college education in Indiana's prisons, the Indiana Department of Correction and Ball State University began publishing research demonstrating the importance of correctional education. Named for the late U.S. Sen. Arlen Specter from Pennsylvania, Specter grants (officially known as the Incarcerated Individuals Program) provided post-secondary vocational training for incarcerated offenders 35 years of age or younger who had a GED or high school diploma, were within seven years of release from prison and were not convicted of murder, a sexual offense or a crime involving a victim who is a minor.