Blog Content
October 22, 2026
Originally published by Inside Higher Ed
Transfer remains all too difficult for the average student to navigate. Still, those who learn within carceral facilities can face a unique set of additional challenges when it comes to getting their earned credits to apply to a meaningful credential. As was recently outlined in a June 2026 Inside Higher Ed column, there are complex operational challenges that make it difficult for incarcerated and formerly incarcerated learners and academic record keepers like registrars alike.
Such challenges are compounded by the way curriculum has historically been developed for higher education–in–prison programs, the way collaboration across programs has often been stymied by the necessity for program leaders to compete for resources such as funding and facility access, and the way a student’s access to postsecondary programming tends to depend upon their assignment to a particular correctional facility. The lack of continuity of program provision at women’s facilities can often make it even more challenging for learners to earn postsecondary credentials.
Without greater coordination across programs and institutions, incarcerated students may accumulate substantial college credit without a clear route toward a credential. At a recent graduation for one of the grantees profiled in this piece, an associate degree graduate illustrated the challenge: After years of taking courses from multiple colleges and before entering the grantee’s coordinated degree pathway, she joked that she “probably had enough credits for a Ph.D. at this point.”
Read the full story at Inside Higher Ed
About the authors:
Sarah Kuczynski is the director of the New England Prison Education Collaborative at the New England Board of Higher Education, where she is leading NEBHE’s NEPEC initiative to strengthen, expand and coordinate higher education in prison across the six New England states.
Zeia Fawaz is the senior manager of research and strategy on the NEPEC team at NEBHE, where she leads NEPEC’s research projects and supports overall initiative strategy.
Quinn Barton is the senior coordinator of communications and events on the NEPEC team, where she leads the team’s internal and external communications, event planning, and project coordination.