Framingham State joins prison education consortium

Photo/Google Framingham State already has established partnerships with two facilities, MCI-Framingham and Middlesex Jail and House of Corrections in Billerica, and it has now joined a new consortium for prison education.

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Framingham State University has joined a group of colleges in Massachusetts that is working to expand college education access for those who are incarcerated.

Framingham State already has established partnerships with two facilities, MCI-Framingham and Middlesex Jail and House of Corrections in Billerica, through its Inside-out program, which sends Framingham State students into the facilities to take classes alongside current inmates.

Framingham announced last week it would join the higher education collaboration. Clark University in Worcester and Mount Wachusett Community College in Gardner also recently joined the group, which also includes Harvard University, Boston University, Tufts University and others.

The consortium was established at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology with funding from the Vera Institute of Justice and the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. The consortium will also receive technical assistance from Vera to support its efforts to provide and expand post-secondary educational opportunities in prison and after inmates are released.

A ban on federal Pell Grants for those in prison means that many who are behind bars aren't able to access college learning opportunities, the consortium says.