From a correctional facility to an educational facility

A Michigan-born rehabilitation program is redefining incarceration. In Kalamazoo County, the Sheriff’s Office and a nonprofit organization’s collaboration are seeing early signs of success – but need more support to sustain it.

Teaching Men Who Will Never Leave Prison

In a maximum-security facility in upstate New York, students tackled Samuel Richardson’s “Clarissa” and Tolstoy’s “War and Peace,” finding a sense of purpose that transcended ordinary coursework.

Wayne State adds educational program for prison inmates

Wayne State University has joined the Michigan Consortium for Higher Education in Prison (MiCHEP), becoming the 13th institutional member dedicated to expanding access to college degrees in state correctional facilities. The membership coincides with the launch of Wayne State’s new Prison Education Program (PEP), which will begin offering classes in fall 2025 at the Macomb Correctional Facility.

Paving the Way: Hope Forward and The Hope-Western Prison Education Program Graduates

It’s not an overstatement to say that Hope Forward changed my life. Being a part of Hope Forward gave me access to an education that would not otherwise have been financially accessible to me. I met students from the Hope-Western Prison Education Program (HWPEP), a program for incarcerated students in the Muskegon Correctional Facility, when we became pen pals.

Students find belonging in a Michigan prison

Artist and writer Alvin Smith, who was among last month’s graduates and a frequent contributor to College Inside, worked with his fellow students to put together this collection of reflections. These voices capture a moment when students realized they weren’t just “prisoner[s] taking a college class,” as one participant wrote, but actual students whose success mattered to an academic community that wouldn’t abandon them.

2025 HWPEP Commencement Highlights

Highlights from the 2025 Hope-Western Prison Education Program Commencement.

Corrections Department report: reentry programs help bring repeat offender rate to new low

A Michigan Department of Corrections report says the rate of repeat offenders and parole violators being returned to state prisons is at an all-time low. Stepped-up support services, like job training and post-high school education, appear to play a role.

'Pioneers’: Nine inmates become first graduates of groundbreaking program from Hope, WTS

From joining a non-credit pilot program in 2019 to officially starting their degrees in 2021 to completing the program this year, the first cohort of students in the Hope-Western Prison Education Program have come far. Now, after a ceremony June 25 at the Muskegon Correctional Facility, they are officially graduates.

This week, Thumb Correctional Facility and Mott Community College celebrated the graduation of 16 students

Thumb Correctional Facility and Mott Community College celebrated the graduation of 16 students, with special guest Larry Miller, Chairman of the Jordan Brand Advisory Board at Nike and and former president of the NBA Portland Trail Blazers speaking at the commencement.

Senate Heeds Call to Protect Pell

Late last night, the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee released its reconciliation bill. In contrast to the House version, this bill does not make major, detrimental changes to Pell. Protecting and strengthening the Pell Grant program was the National College Attainment Network's (NCAN) highest priority in this process, and NCAN members delivered effective and powerful grassroots advocacy.