This month, more than 20 students recently accepted into the Northwestern Prison Education Program (NPEP) — the only bachelor’s degree-granting program for incarcerated students offered by a top 10 university in the United States, will begin classes at Stateville Correctional Center. “NPEP is the gateway, the entrance, into a world of scholars, freedom educators, and amazing, beautiful people,” said Demetrius Cunningham, one of the students recently accepted into NPEP. “It’s a dream come true.” Donnell Green, another recently admitted NPEP student, shared similar feelings. “When an incarcerated individual says they want to make the best of their situation — being an NPEP student is what they mean.” This new addition will make up NPEP’s third cohort of students at Stateville Correctional Center. These students will join the first and second cohorts of NPEP students who are currently working on their bachelor’s degrees. “Cohorts 1 and 2 have welcomed me like family,” said Shawn Thigpen, a Cohort 3 student. “I finally found a family who loves and truly has care for me,” said Jacob Currey, another Cohort 3 student, of the existing NPEP students. “They connect, assess, respond, and encourage.”

For this most recent round of admissions, NPEP’s Admissions Committee — made up of Northwestern administrators and faculty members— received nearly 400 applications from individuals at facilities across the state of Illinois. In addition to the 20 students accepted into NPEP earlier this year, 20 more students from the applicant pool will join NPEP this summer as members of the program’s fourth cohort. Jennifer Lackey, the Director of the Northwestern Prison Education Program and the Wayne and Elizabeth Jones Professor of Philosophy and Professor of Law (courtesy) at Northwestern University, said that the new students passed several rounds of rigorous review, including interviews conducted at facilities throughout Illinois. “We are delighted to be welcoming them to Stateville, where they will participate in a program dedicated to the highest standards in academic excellence,” Lackey said. Launched in 2018, NPEP was the first program to offer a comprehensive, degree-granting liberal arts curriculum to incarcerated students in Illinois. Upon completion of this degree, students are eligible to apply to Northwestern University for a Bachelor of Science degree with a major in social sciences from Northwestern’s School of Professional Studies. For those interested in applying, applications for admission to NPEP’s fifth cohort at Stateville Correctional Center will open in Spring 2024.