$400,000 in Grants to be Made to New England Higher Education Institutions to Support Credit Mobility in Higher Ed in Prison

The New England Prison Education Collaborative (NEPEC), with support from Ascendium Education Group, announces the release of its Request for Proposals for the second round of Accelerator Grants. Four Accelerator Grants will be awarded to four eligible postsecondary institutions located across the New England states of Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont.

Grant recipients will work to support the mobility of credits earned in Prison Education Programs (PEPs), both within the state where they are located and to institutions across the New England region. PEPs are defined in federal statute and are required to go through a specific multi-step approval process, culminating in the U.S. Department of Education updating the educational institution’s Program Participation Agreement, thereby allowing them to administer Pell grants to incarcerated students who demonstrate financial need.  

“Credit mobility is one of the biggest barriers to college completion for currently and formerly incarcerated learners,” said Molly Lasagna, Senior Strategy Officer at Ascendium Education Philanthropy. “NEPEC’s second year of Accelerator Grants will provide a much-needed incentive to support innovative solutions to this widespread challenge for learners with a lived experience of incarceration.” The New England Prison Education Collaborative (NEPEC) is a five-year grant-funded initiative supported by Ascendium Education Group to implement the recommendations from the 2023 New England Commission on the Future of Higher Education in Prison. This initiative, led by the New England Board of Higher Education (NEBHE), works to achieve this impact by engaging a diverse array of regional stakeholders through state strategic planning, workshops, and subgrants.  

Now in its second year of subgranting to higher education institutions, NEPEC will award four Accelerator Grants to four eligible postsecondary institutions located across New England. Applicants are asked to submit proposals for $100,000 of funding for use over 12 months. An additional cycle of Accelerator Grants will be released in the same time frame in 2027. The Accelerator Grant proposal criteria were developed by NEPEC and its Higher Education Working Group, whose members have substantial national and regional expertise in higher education in prison.

“Since NEBHE first convened the New England Commission on the Future of Higher Education in Prison back in October 2022,  stakeholders across the region have stressed the need for robust credit transfer pathways for incarcerated and formerly incarcerated learners,” said Sarah Kuczynski, Director of the New England Prison Education Collaborative and Transfer Initiatives at the New England Board of Higher Education. “Our goal with this round of Accelerator Grants is to help institutions fund creative solutions to this common barrier.”  

Eligibility

Eligible applicants include institutions with an existing or emerging Pell-eligible Prison Education Program (PEP) or a consortium of higher education institutions working together to provide a postsecondary education pathway. Institutions must seek to carry out one of the five approved activities:

• A New England postsecondary institution with an approved PEP—or consortium of institutions—seeking support for the creation or reconstruction of a transfer pathway—including pathways that leverage stackable credentials to accelerate momentum and provide greater flexibility and more academic options for students, which ensures the mobility—including applicability— of academic credits earned during incarceration.  

• A New England PEP that is seeking support for the creation of a reverse transfer pathway, enabling currently or formerly incarcerated students who made progress toward an associate degree prior to transferring to a four-year degree pathway to transfer credits earned at the four-year institution back to their community college to complete the associate degree requirements.

• A consortium of New England postsecondary institutions seeking to create a multi-state transfer agreement, allowing for the mobility of credits earned in carceral facilities across state lines.

• A New England PEP seeking support to train staff in their academic services office on how to assess transcripts from people who are returning from incarceration.

• A New England PEP that is seeking support for implementing a comprehensive credit for prior learning (CPL) or prior learning assessment (PLA) process—or meaningfully expanding an existing one.

Proposals will need to demonstrate how funds will markedly accelerate the applying institution’s progress towards one of the five activities NEPEC is incentivizing with this second round of Accelerator Grants.  

Institutions that received an award in Year 1 are eligible for funding in this award cycle. Similarly, receiving an award in Year 2 will not preclude an institution from applying for funding in a subsequent award cycle. if their work aligns with the Request for Proposal for that cycle.

Timeline

The application for proposals is now open. The deadline to apply is 5 p.m. ET on Friday, May 29, 2026.  For more information on the application process, potential applicants are encouraged to join the NEPEC team for an informational webinar on Wednesday, May 6, 2026, at 12 p.m. ET. Register here. For additional inquiries, please email nepec@nebhe.org.

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About NEPEC

The New England Prison Education Collaborative (NEPEC), under The New England Board of Higher Education (NEBHE), was established in 2024 with a five-year grant from Ascendium Education Group to implement the 2023 New England Commission on the Future of Higher Education in Prison’s recommendations and prepare for the reinstatement of federal Pell Grants for incarcerated learners. NEPEC aims to accelerate and support efforts to ensure all incarcerated individuals in New England have access to high-quality, workforce-aligned postsecondary education. Stay updated about NEPEC’s work at www.nebhe.org/higher-education-in-prison/ and on LinkedIn.

About NEBHE

Higher education is New England’s most critical sustainable resource. The region’s governors knew that over 70 years ago when they founded the New England Board of Higher Education (NEBHE). Today, NEBHE promotes greater education opportunities and services for the residents of New England and its more than 250 colleges and universities. Its mission is to advance postsecondary outcomes through convening, research and programs for students, institution leaders, and policymakers. NEBHE’s vision is that everyone in New England will have lifelong access to affordable, high-value postsecondary education. Stay updated on NEBHE’s work online at www.nebhe.org and on LinkedIn.  

About Ascendium Education Group

Ascendium Education Group® is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization driven by the belief that learning after high school gives people the power to build better futures. Our national philanthropy focuses on increasing opportunities for learners from low-income backgrounds to achieve upward mobility through postsecondary education and workforce training. We partner with organizations whose objectives align with our core strategies to expand opportunity, support learner success, and connect and align systems. Our grantees include postsecondary education and workforce training providers, intermediaries, researchers, and media organizations from across the U.S. To learn more, visit www.ascendiumphilanthropy.org  

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