Prison Education Program Launches Paid Remote Internships
A six-month pilot lets incarcerated Boston College graduates work remotely for $25 an hour through a partnership with the Massachusetts Department of Corrections.
Updated on Nov. 8, 2026 in Internships
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The Boston College Prison Education Program has launched a six-month pilot offering paid remote internships to incarcerated graduates. Two graduates incarcerated at MCI-Shirley are employed as remote interns by the Alliance for Higher Education in Prisons.
Why it matters
The pilot gives incarcerated graduates paid professional experience, which is linked to lower recidivism rates. It also tests whether remote work can extend workforce opportunities to people inside Massachusetts prisons.
Interns earn $25 an hour for 20 hours a week, and $2.50 of each hour goes to a BCPEP emergency reentry fund. The pilot runs six months with two interns, and the program's results have not yet been reported.
The players
Boston College Prison Education Program
The Boston College Prison Education Program provides college-level education to incarcerated students in Massachusetts and runs the pilot internship program.
Alliance for Higher Education in Prisons
The Alliance for Higher Education in Prisons is a nonprofit organization that supports postsecondary education for incarcerated people and employs the two interns.
Massachusetts Department of Corrections
The Massachusetts Department of Corrections is the state agency that oversees the state's prisons and partners on the pilot program.
The details
Interns worked first on planning the Alliance's Incarcerated Scholars Conference, held October 28 and 29, then shifted to the Education in Action initiative. Their current work includes conducting research and interviewing officials to analyze that initiative's impact.
Timeline
October 28 and 29: The Alliance's Incarcerated Scholars Conference took place.
The first two months of the fellowship focused on conference planning and development.
The six-month pilot period runs the paid remote internship program.
Industry Dynamics
The pilot extends prison professional development, whose benefits are linked to lower recidivism rates, into paid remote work. It tests whether that model can carry incarcerated graduates into workforce roles while they remain inside Massachusetts facilities.
Incarcerated graduates at MCI-Shirley and MCI-Framingham would gain access to paid remote roles at $25 an hour if the program expands. The pilot is a six-month test, and no expansion date has been announced.
The takeaway
Paid, remote professional work can give incarcerated graduates skills and income that support reentry. Watching whether the pilot expands will show if this model can scale beyond two interns.
Further reading
Explore more internship opportunities to see how paid remote work is being offered across different sectors.
Source note: This article includes information reported by The Heights.
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