Incarcerated students earn degrees in groundbreaking US university program

Participants in Northwestern University prison education program will graduate despite having to work through Covid-19 pandemic

Students of Northwestern University who have completed their coursework while serving time in prison are preparing to graduate on Wednesday and become the first such pupils to receive bachelor's degrees from the highly regarded college, according to academic officials.

The class graduating from the Northwestern Prison Education Program (NPEP) is one of four cohorts with 20 incarcerated students. Four hundred incarcerated people applied for the program during the latest application cycle, with only 70 getting interviewed.