MWCC selected for prisoner education pilot

PHOTO/COURTESY Mount Wachusett Community College will participate in a pilot prisoner education program that will take place with prisoners from three local institutes.

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By Sam Bonacci

Mount Wachusett Community College has been selected to participate in a pilot program to educate 72 inmates at area correctional institutions.

MWCC is one of 67 colleges and universities selected by the U.S. Department of Education to participate in the Second Chance Pell pilot program, the college announced Friday. It is part of a national effort aimed at reducing recidivism and strengthening communities by providing education and job training to eligible inmates.

“In Massachusetts and across the country, more money is spent on incarcerating prisoners than is spent on public education. In the long run, society and taxpayers are better served by investing in programs that help people become contributing members of their communities,” MWCC President Daniel M. Asquino said in a statement.

Recent studies show that incarcerated individuals who participate in correctional education are 43 percent less likely to return to prison within three years than prisoners who did not participate in any correctional education programs, according to a release from the White House.

Through the program, MWCC will be able to provide federal Pell Grants to qualified students who are incarcerated and are likely to be released within five years of enrolling in coursework. The grants will come from a separate appropriation than the normal Pell Grant funding, according to a U.S. Department of Education spokesperson.

The college will partner with the Massachusetts Department of Corrections to provide academic programs to approximately 72 inmates at the North Central Correctional Institute in Gardner, the Massachusetts Correctional Institute in Shirley, and the Federal Medical Center in Devens.