Abstract
Washington University’s Prison Education Project was founded in 2011, on trend with universities and institutions across the country responding to higher levels of incarceration and the removal of Pell Grants for people in prison. WashU is an elite institution in St. Louis, Missouri, one of the most socioeconomically and racially divided cities in the country. This creates a tension between students and their relationship with WashU that is not felt in other programs. This essay aims to explore the impact that studying at WashU’s Prison Education Project has on inmates’ social capital and compare this experience to past scholarship of PEPs in other universities. To facilitate this research, faculty members of WashU’s Prison Education Project were interviewed and multiple graduates of the program were surveyed about their personal experiences and insights. The results of the study did not prove conclusive, partly due to small sample size and limited interaction with participants. However, two main trends were identified: an increase in social capital due to participating in a PEP, which aligns with past scholarship, as well as the identification of a pattern of complex relationships between participants of PEP and Washington University.
Keywords: prison education program, incarceration, social capital
How to Cite:
Correa-Bruzzese, C. (2025). Unlocking potential: Social capital in Washington University’s prison education program. The Washington University Journal of Undergraduate Research, 1(1), 33–38. https://doi.org/10.7936/wujur.9265
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