Schools Offering College Courses to Inmates - Massachusetts

Program Website: http://www.bu.edu/pep/

Contacts:

Danielle Rousseau, Ph.D., LMHC, Director
Assistant Professor
Department of Applied Social Sciences
Director of Prison Education
Boston University
808 Commonwealth Avenue, Rm 234
Boston, MA 02215
Tel: 617.353.3025
Fax: 617.358.3595
Email: PrisonEd@bu.edu

Program Description: The Boston University Prison Education Program was founded by labor organizer, tenant activist, and poet Elizabeth Barker. Together with BU President John Silber, Barker worked to have the Boston University Prison Education Program offer its first credit-bearing college courses at MCI/Norfolk, in 1972. In 1989, the Prison Education Program expanded to a second medium-security prison for men (MCI/Bay State), and by 1991 included MCI/Framingham Massachusetts’ only penal institution for women. BU continues to be a nationally recognized leader for its contribution to the lives of prisoners in the Program, and by extension, its contribution to the prisons they inhabit, the families they left behind, and the communities to which they will return.

In the 1980s and early 1990s, a number of Massachusetts colleges offered courses within the prison system. Students who had earned 30 to 60 credits through these colleges could apply the credits towards a Boston University bachelor’s degree, and could even go on to pursue a master’s degree. However, with the Crime Control and Prevention Act of 1994, Pell Grants for prisoners were eliminated, and as a result, universities withdrew their programs. In Massachusetts, only Boston University continued to operate in prisons, though since 1998 it has focused exclusively on undergraduate courses.

Degrees Offered: Bachelor of Liberal Studies in Interdisciplinary Studies

Programs Offered: Over 600 courses in a variety of disciplines, including opera, accounting, English composition, Latin, biology, sociology, marketing, acting, and language courses in Spanish, French, and Greek. Entry into the program is by four-part examination; those scoring in the top 20% are interviewed. Number of new admittees limited by number of graduates the previous year. This rigorous selection process insures that prison education students are at a level commensurate with the high academic standards of Boston University.

Unique Features: From its inception in 1972, the BU Prison Education Program has offered scholarships to the corrections staff. Since AY 2008-09, Harvard University sociology students and incarcerated men and women enrolled in Boston University have shared a joint classroom inside the walls of MCI/Norfolk (men’s medium security) as well as MCI/Framingham (MA’s women’s maximum security prison). Both Harvard and Boston University students receive course credit in a semester-long seminar that explores social justice issues, and proposes solutions to consequent social problems.

Headquarters: Boston, MA

Correctional Facilities Served: MCI/Norfolk; MCI/Framingham; MCI/Bay State

Population Served: Incarcerated men and women in BU program and a few Harvard sociology students

Number of Students: 11500 in total since 1970s; In the academic year 2011-12, 95 at Norfolk, 50 at Framingham, 3 at Bay State (too many short termers at Bay State)

Graduates to Date: 280 + students have earned bachelor’s degrees, 39 received master’s degrees, and 23 were granted both bachelor’s and master’s degrees. In the academic year 2010-11, sixteen students earned BLS degrees.

Year Founded: 1972

Founders: Elizabeth Barker and former BU President John Silber

College/University/Organization Partnerships: Boston University

Funding: Fully funded by Boston University

Prison Studies Project (PSP)

Program Website: http://www.prisonstudiesproject.org/

Contacts: Kaia Stern, Director

Program Description: In September 2008, Kaia Stern and Bruce Western launched the Prison Studies Project (PSP) at Harvard University. PSP is a group of students, teachers and researchers with a shared interest in the American punishment system. Our project promotes informed conversation about the challenges of mass incarceration through an interdisciplinary approach committed to education and policy change. PSP’s unique relationship with Boston University’s longstanding Prison Education Program and the Massachusetts Department of Correction facilitates our teaching college courses in prison.

Degrees Offered: Credit toward a Bachelor of Arts in Sociology (for the Harvard students), or a Bachelor of Liberal Studies in Interdisciplinary Studies (for the BU students)

Programs Offered: Co-taught as an upper-division college seminar in Urban Sociology, the first Prison Studies course was at MCI Norfolk and included five Boston University graduates who audited the class from inside the state prison, ten BU college students who were incarcerated at MCI Norfolk, and five Harvard juniors in sociology, who traveled to the prison from Harvard’s campus in Cambridge. Each student involved in the program received full academic credit toward his or her bachelor’s degree, from either Harvard or BU.

Unique Features: The Prison Studies partnership marks the first time that the DOC in Massachusetts has permitted traditional college students to learn alongside incarcerated students as part of a curriculum for college credit. Since 2008, Harvard University sociology students and incarcerated men and women enrolled in Boston University’s Prison Education Program have shared a classroom inside the walls of MCI/Norfolk (a men’s medium security prison) and MCI/Framingham (a women’s maximum security prison). Both Harvard and Boston University students receive course credit in a semester-long seminar that explores topics in urban sociology, such as race, poverty and community justice.

Headquarters: Cambridge, MA

Correctional Facilities Served: MCI/Norfolk and MCI/Framingham

Population Served: Harvard Sociology majors and men and women who are incarcerated and enrolled in the BU Prison Education program.

Number of Students: Approximately 20 students per semester

Graduates to Date: N/A

Year Founded: 2008

Founders: Kaia Stern and Bruce Western

College/University/Organization Partnerships: Harvard University, Boston University’s Prison Education Program, and the Massachusetts Department of Correction

Funding: The Elfenworks Foundation supported the early stages of our work. Although we are affiliated with Harvard University, the Prison Studies Project is responsible for raising independently the funds necessary for its operations and success. Both the Boston University’s Prison Education Program and Bruce Western’s generosity have helped to sustain the costs of travel and teaching associated with the Prison Studies Project behind bars.

Inside-Out Prison Exchange Program (Northampton & Ludlow)

Program Website: http://www.insideoutcenter.org/

Contacts: Simone Davis, Kristin Bumiller, and Martha Saxton (current professors in the program)

Program Description: Amherst College and Mount Holyoke college professors Kristin Bumiller and Simone Davis adopted the Inside-Out model developed by Lori Pompa, who began the program to try to remove the boundaries created by classism, racism, and the stigma attached to incarceration. Under the Inside-Out model, college students and incarcerated students with all varying levels of prior education can enroll in courses at local jails. There are equal numbers of inside and outside students.

Degrees Offered: No degree offered to “inside” students as of now; hoping in the future to partner with Holyoke Community College to do this. Amherst College offers college credits to inside students.

Programs Offered: Courses in the past “Regulating Citizenship” (Political Science, Amherst College), “Historical Perspectives on Criminal Justice and the US Economy” (History, Amherst College)

Unique Features: The Five-College Inside-Out program is working with the National Inside-Out program to develop a “Degrees of Freedom” initiative. This program will be designed to connect the experience of an inside-out course with efforts to continue higher education after release.

Headquarters: Northampton, MA; Ludlow, MA

Correctional Facilities Served: Hampden County Correctional System and Hampshire County House of Corrections (also currently exploring expanding the program to other county facilities in the region)

Population Served: People who are incarcerated and students from five colleges (equal numbers of each in every class)

Number of Students: Approximately 24 per course

Graduates to Date: N/A

Year Founded: Approx. 2005 (Amherst and Mount Holyoke adopted model)

Founders: Lori Pompa (founder of Inside-Out model)

College/University/Organization Partnerships: Five Colleges (Amherst, Smith, Hampshire, Mont Holyoke and UMASS)

Funding: The Amherst College program is funded by their Center for Community Engagement