History

In 2019, MDCC was approached by the Mississippi Humanities Council and invited to participate in a grant to fund for-credit humanities course offerings at Parchman. Despite COVID-related delays, a Memorandum of Understanding between MDCC and the Mississippi Department of Corrections was approved by the College’s Board of Trustees in January 2021, and instruction began in the Spring 2021 semester via live-streamed delivery of three English courses. The enthusiastic response from the students, MDCC faculty, and Parchman staff were gathered and noted. This led to the scheduling of additional humanities course offerings for the Fall 2021 and Spring 2022 semesters.

Under the College’s current strategic plan, which began in 2021, Goal 1.2, which calls on MDCC to “address barriers that prevent student success,” and Goal 3.2, which challenges the College to “develop comprehensive, cohesive, and efficient enrollment processes,” justified the expansion of the Prison Education Program at Parchman. To that end, the College developed a Parchman Admissions Policy in collaboration with the Mississippi Community College Board. This policy commits MDCC to the collection of all necessary admissions documentation for Parchman students so that the College meets the requirements for the state audit submission.

For the Spring 2022 semester, a notification for the Prison Education Program at the Mississippi State Penitentiary was submitted to SACSCOC. External confirmation of the quality and unity of the program was further confirmed when the Mississippi Humanities Council named MDCC as the recipient of the 2022 Humanities Educator of the Year award for the work at Parchman. Due to the continued growth of the program, the desire from students to pursue a full Associate of Arts degree and the ongoing commitment of MDCC and its partners, the College is approved by SACSCOC to offer the full University Transfer Program at Parchman.

In December of 2023, the Mississippi Department of Corrections approved MDCC’s Prison Education Program (PEP) proposal to provide an Associate of Arts Degree at the AA Level, at the Mississippi State Penitentiary (Parchman).

Through the Spring 2023 semester, students at Parchman have completed almost 800 credit hours as they pursue their Associate of Arts degrees.