WMCC Receives Competitive Grant to Expand Higher Education in Prison Programming
White Mountains Community College (WMCC) was one of five New England institutions to receive a $100,000 grant in August 2025 to expand access to higher education in prison programming and support re-entry after incarceration. The grant was awarded through the New England Prison Education Collaborative (NEPEC), a five-year initiative funded by Ascendium Education Group to implement recommendations from a 2023 report from the New England Board of Higher Education on the future of higher education in prison.
WMCC began offering liberal arts and business administration associate degree programs at the Northern New Hampshire Correctional Facility (NNHCF) in Berlin in March 2023. In May 2025, the first cohort of students graduated with their degrees in a ceremony attended by over 100 people. That month, the New Hampshire Department of Corrections (NHDOC) honored WMCC as Community Partner of the Year for its success in expanding higher education to NNHCF.
The NEPEC Accelerator Grant will fund the expansion of the WMCC program to the New Hampshire Correctional Facility for Men and the New Hampshire Correctional Facility for Women in Concord, with instruction delivered in collaboration with NHTI-Concord’s Community College. WMCC will hire a Prison Education Project Director to facilitate the expansion efforts. The director will also collaborate with the University System of New Hampshire (USNH) to create a pathway to a bachelor’s degree through credit transfers from the associate degree programs that will eventually be offered at all three state prisons.
“The NEPEC grant will build on the success of our efforts at NNHCF to provide more inmates with the tools they need to improve their lives and that of their families and communities. Securing the grant is a huge accomplishment for WMCC Prison Education Program staff and the result of their tremendous work and dedication,” said Sarmad Saman, President of WMCC.
WMCC’s program is approved by the NH Department of Education and authorized by the New England Commission of Higher Education (NECHE) as a Second Chance Pell Program (SCP), which allows incarcerated individuals to apply for and use federal Pell Grants to pay for classes. In most cases, the federal grants cover the full cost of the students’ courses.
Leah Maciejewski, Vice President of Academic Affairs at WMCC, said that academic courses for the prison programs were carefully selected to ensure that they could be taught without access to the Internet and would open doors to careers available to graduates with criminal convictions. “The goal is supporting the development of empowerment and agency with the students who are involved in these courses, which is what we want for all of our students throughout the community college system,” she told New Hampshire Public Radio (NHPR).
The grant will complement efforts that are already underway in New Hampshire to enhance educational programming in NHDOC facilities. The Corrections Education and Vocational Planning Group (CEVPG), which was created through legislation in 2024, aims to enhance career and educational programming within NHDOC to improve facility safety, public safety, reduce recidivism rates, and bolster employability and self-efficacy among incarcerated individuals. Some of the key partners represented this planning group are NHDOC, CCSNH, New England Board of Higher Education, and USNH.
In addition to WMCC, NEPEC Accelerator Grants were awarded to Boston College in Massachusetts, Quinnipiac University in Connecticut, Roger Williams University in Rhode Island and Washington County Community College in Maine. This is the first of three years of planned Accelerator Grant awards.
