The Hope-Western Prison Education Program operated by Hope College and Western Theological Seminary to provide a Christian liberal arts education to incarcerated men at Muskegon Correctional Facility is among 22 recipients announced recently by Jobs for the Future as grant partners in Ascendium Education Group’s Ready for Pell initiative.
Ascendium’s Ready for Pell program is a two-year, $4.7 million strategic initiative to strengthen newly established postsecondary education in prison programs ahead of the restoration of federal Pell Grants in the 2023-24 academic year for learners who are incarcerated. The Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994 has been prohibiting Pell eligibility for incarcerated students.
The awardees include two state systems and 20 colleges in 16 states. The Hope-Western Prison Education Program (HWPEP) received the maximum amount of funding, $120,000.
HWPEP began as a pilot initiative in March 2019. This past fall, the Higher Learning Commission, which is the college’s accreditor, provided formal approval of Muskegon Correctional Facility as an “additional location” to the Hope campus and to include incarcerated students among the student body. Participants in HWPEP can now pursue a Bachelor of Arts degree from Hope while taking classes at the prison.
HWPEP will use its Ready for Pell award to build additional capacity among a variety of offices and departments necessary for the academic and personal success of its incarcerated students. Trauma-informed approaches to working with incarcerated students will also be strengthened. The grant will also help strengthen wrap-around support for students who are eventually released from prison and reenter the community.
“Incarcerated people are created in the image and likeness of a God who loves them just like the rest of us. A Christian liberal arts education helps them reimagine who they are, what they’re for, and what they’re capable of. Hope College and Western Theological Seminary have been transforming students’ lives since 1866 in Holland. Now they can extend their missions to doing the same thing at Muskegon Correctional Facility,” said Dr. Richard Ray, a professor of kinesiology at Hope who is co-directing the program with Dr. David Stubbs, professor of theology and ethics at Western Theological Seminary.
Ray noted that programs like HWPEP elsewhere have proven positive effects on prisoners, prison culture and prison systems. For example, he said, studies of similar programs have found a 70% reduction in misconduct incidents, and improved safety and positive culture in prisons. For parolees who participated, results have included a 43% reduction in recidivism and a 13% increase in post-release employment.
“We’re grateful to JFF/Ascendium in helping us with this work,” Ray said. “The grant they've provided will help us make significant progress in fulfilling HWPEP’s mission.”
Through this past summer, seven professors from Hope and Western taught six non-credit courses to 20 incarcerated students enrolled in HWPEP, with 10 seminary and college students serving as assistants.
The students in HWPEP’s first cohort began distance education coursework for credit this past fall. Starting next fall, students will be added each year until the program is fully enrolled at four cohorts in the fall of 2024. The students are being recruited from among the 31,000 male prisoners in the 26-prison system operated by the Michigan Department of Corrections. Prospective students apply to the college and, if accepted, they will be moved to the Muskegon Correctional Facility.
Ray anticipates that the first participants could complete their degrees as soon as May 2025.
Jobs for the Future is a national nonprofit that drives transformation in the American workforce and education systems. For nearly 40 years, JFF has led the way in designing innovative and scalable solutions that create access to economic advancement for all.
Ascendium Education Group is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization committed to helping people reach the education and career goals that matter to them. Ascendium invests in initiatives designed to increase the number of students from low-income backgrounds who complete postsecondary degrees, certificates, and workforce training programs, with an emphasis on first-generation students, incarcerated adults, rural community members, students of color, and veterans. Ascendium's work identifies, validates and expands best practices to promote large-scale change at the institutional, system and state levels, with the intention of elevating opportunity for all.
HWPEP is reliant upon external contributions designated specifically for the program. A generous donor has committed to match gifts to Western Theological Seminary in support of the HWPEP program up to $100,000 each year for four years, and the program is continuing to seek additional gift support.
Additional information about the Hope Western Prison Education Program is available at hope.edu/hwpep