Build pathways home: Why Michigan’s college-in-prison expansion matters now

Higher education prison is a public good, one that strengthens families, communities, and the workforce. Opportunities arise for individuals who go through these programs, helping them better their lives and their communities. That’s why Michigan’s moment right now matters so much. The public conversation often treats education in prison as a debate about whether people “deserve” it. This framing misses the point and lets systems’ off the hook. The better question is whether Michigan is serious about building communities where more people come home ready to contribute, provide, and thrive.

WMU Program Goes to Prison

The Higher Education for the Justice-Involved (HEJI) program at Western Michigan University is the brainchild of Dale Brown, whose Ph.D. dissertation research focused on the transformative and humanizing power of higher education for people who are or have been incarcerated. This article explores the program through the eyes of students and staff involved in it.

More Michigan prisoners than ever are getting educations, job training

Nearly 4,000 Michigan inmates completed educational and vocational programs last year, up from 2,400 in 2020. The state is offering more courses in an attempt to lower recidivism and set returning citizens up for success. Vocational programs include welding, robotics, auto repair, and truck driving. The state also partners with colleges.

State coalitions emerge as key infrastructure for higher education in prison

On a Friday afternoon in late January, directors of prison education programs, state higher education officials, corrections administrators, and nonprofit leaders gathered in Denver to discuss a challenge facing colleges working in prisons across the country: How do you get everyone on the same page? This week, we look at the emergence of state coalitions for higher education in prison at a conference organized by the Colorado Coalition for Higher Education in prison.

A Mosaic: Reflections on Getting a College Education in Prison

Why bother? What’s the point? These are questions that inevitably arise in conversations about college programs in prisons. But these questions make certain assumptions about education in general and higher education in prisons specifically. My position as a prisoner has given me the opportunity to contemplate the question and arrive at some insight into it.

Coming home to an ‘alien world’: Michigan nonprofit teaches how to live in a digital world after incarceration

When people leave prison after decades inside, they’re not just re-entering society, they’re entering an unfamiliar, disorienting digital world. That sense of disorientation is exactly why Nation Outside is creating peer-led digital literacy courses designed specifically for people returning home after incarceration.

Grant given to MiCHEP will help educate prisoners in Michigan

The Michigan College Access Network is using grant money to help prison education programs statewide. $750,000 from the Mellon Foundation will go to the Michigan Consortium for Higher Education in Prison (MiCHEP). The money will be used to hire an executive director for MiCHEP and start a sub-award program for the 14 colleges involved with MiCHEP. MiCHEP schools will be able to apply for resources to support their humanities programs.

ALA welcomes Prison Libraries Act

The American Library Association praised the Prison Libraries Act, introduced today by Rep. Emanuel Cleaver II (D-MO-5), along with co-leads Rep. Shontel Brown (D-OH-11), and Rep. Valerie Foushee (D-NC-4). The bill would establish a grant program within the Department of Justice to provide library services to incarcerated individuals to advance reintegration efforts, reduce recidivism and increase educational opportunities.  

RCU to offer prison education program at Thumb Correctional Facility

Rochester Christian University will begin offering a prison education program at the Thumb Correctional Facility in Lapeer, Michigan, in the spring 2026 semester, expanding access to higher education and advancing the university’s mission-driven commitment to societal good.

Michigan prison college programs get $750K grant to expand humanities education

A three-year $750,000 grant was awarded by the Mellon Foundation to support the continued development of the Michigan Consortium for Higher Education in Prison, helping to bring humanities-centered education modules to incarcerated individuals across the state.