Bennington College Prison Education Initiative
Since 2015, the Prison Education Initiative (PEI) has brought Bennington College faculty to Great Meadow Correctional Facility, a maximum-security men's prison in Comstock, New York.
Program Status Update
The teaching component of PEI is currently paused as we work to restore programming.
In July 2024, the NYS Department of Corrections and Community Supervision (DOCCS) announced plans to close Great Meadow in November 2024. In coordination with DOCCS and college-in-prison partners around the state, PEI staff helped facilitate the transfer of all PEI students to other college programs in New York facilities.
As of spring 2026, PEI is working towards offering courses at Washington Correctional Facility, a medium-security men's prison in Comstock, New York.
While courses are not yet active, this work reflects Bennington’s ongoing commitment to access, educational equity, and meaningful prison educational partnerships.
Our Mission
PEI's mission remains threefold:
- to provide a quality liberal arts undergraduate education to incarcerated students
- to support lifelong learning in men and women serving life sentences
- to foster transformative conversations around prison reform in America
Support Our Work
Since PEI’s inception in 2015, the program has served more than 100 students at Great Meadow Correctional Facility, offering courses in literature, philosophy, social research, history of thought, architecture, political theory, social psychology, math, computer programming, drawing, Latin, and U.S. and world history.
Interviews with Class of '22 Graduates
PEI celebrated its first graduation at Great Meadow eight years after the program launched; eleven students were awarded their Bennington College Associate of Arts degrees. Here are a few of their stories:
Recent News
Prison Education Initiative Awarded $60,000 from Mother Cabrini Health FoundationBennington College’s Prison Education Initiative (PEI) has been awarded a grant of $60,000 from the Mother Cabrini Health Foundation.
Bennington College Awarded $10,000 Grant From The Jacob and Valeria Langeloth FoundationThe Jacob and Valeria Langeloth Foundation has awarded Bennington College a $10,000 grant to support the Incarceration in America think tank that will be held October 1-2, 2021.
Prison Education Initiative Awarded $40,000 from Mother Cabrini Health FoundationBennington College’s Prison Education Initiative (PEI) has been awarded a grant of $40,000 from the Mother Cabrini Health Foundation.
Prison Education Initiative Awarded $50,000 from Ford FoundationBennington College’s Prison Education Initiative (PEI) has been awarded a grant of $50,000 from the Ford Foundation.
Prison Education Initiative to Award Associate of Art DegreeBennington College has received accreditation from the New England Commissions of Higher Education (NECHE) to award a Bennington College Associate of Art degree to incarcerated students through its Prison Education Initiative (PEI).
