Goucher Prison Education Partnership
Founded in 2012, the Goucher Prison Education Partnership (GPEP) is a division of Goucher College operating in two Maryland state prisons, the Maryland Correctional Institution for Women (MCIW) and the Maryland Correctional Institution – Jessup (MCIJ). Each year, around 130 GPEP students enroll in college classes taught by faculty from Goucher and other local colleges and universities. They are held to the rigorous academic standards for which Goucher is known. GPEP provides students with tutoring, academic advising, all needed books and materials, and workshops on topics such as “What are the liberal arts?” and “What is a major?” Volunteers provide academic tutoring, administrative help in GPEP’s offices, and research and student hotline support, as well as supporting GPEP alumni after they come home in applying to college to complete their degree.
GPEP students who graduate while in prison earn a Goucher College bachelor’s degree in American Studies. Those who return home before completing their degree can finish on Goucher's main campus or apply their college credits at any accredited college or university in the country. More than 40% of GPEP students who completed their degree with Goucher graduated with honors. Others do not complete their degree right away but instead use their college credits and knowledge to access enhanced employment opportunities to support themselves, their families, and their communities.
The entire Goucher academic community is enhanced and strengthened by the inclusion of these talented, dedicated students at the two prisons. Our work together stimulates awareness and meaningful dialogue in and beyond the Goucher community about justice, incarceration, and educational access.
Our First Ten Years
To celebrate GPEP’s first decade, we created this video commemorating the milestone.
Meet Some Current Students and Alumni
GPEP offers a college education to students in prison not because there is something broken in them that needs to be repaired but because there is huge potential in them waiting to be unlocked. Hear from students directly—they are the best narrators of their own journeys.
GPEP in the News
- March 10, 2023
Baltimore Magazine profiled William Freeman '20 about his Goucher education and experience as a former student of the Goucher Prison Education Partnership. Freeman now works with the Education Trust on policy advocacy to advance education opportunities for justice-impacted students.
- January 26, 2023
Over the past decade, GPEP has been devoted to its mission to provide an excellent college education to students incarcerated in Maryland. More than 100 professors have taught over 200 college courses to more than 300 students in GPEP's first 10 years.