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Tennessee

Rhodes Expands Prison Liberal Arts Program

Rhodes College is expanding its credited liberal arts program for incarcerated women in Henning, Tennessee, with a $500,000 Mellon Foundation grant.

Updated on Nov. 2, 2026 in Adult Education

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Rhodes College is expanding its credited liberal arts program at a women's correctional facility in Henning, Tennessee, backed by a $500,000 Mellon Foundation grant. AI Illustration. Upload story photo >

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Rhodes College professors and students make a weekly drive to the Women's Therapeutic Residential Center in Henning to teach a credited liberal arts program. A $500,000 grant from the Mellon Foundation will fund a full Bachelor of Arts in Liberal Studies at the facility.

Why it matters

The program has grown from a 2016 Great Books discussion group of about 25 women into credentialed coursework, and expansion to the men's unit at West Tennessee State Penitentiary is planned. Research cited by the program links prison higher education to lower recidivism.

As of spring 2025, 92 incarcerated women have earned 765 Rhodes credits and 32 have completed certificates. Participants are 43% less likely to return to prison, though the men's unit expansion has no reported enrollment figures yet.

The players

Rhodes College

Rhodes College is a private liberal arts college in Memphis, Tennessee, that delivers the credited prison program through its faculty and students.

Mellon Foundation

The Mellon Foundation is a New York-based philanthropic organization that funds higher education and humanities initiatives across the United States.

The details

Professors and students from Rhodes College travel weekly to the Henning facility to deliver the courses. The Mellon-funded bachelor's program is set to launch at the facility this summer, and expanded programming is coming to the men's unit at West Tennessee State Penitentiary.

Timeline

  1. Fall 2016: The program began as a Great Books discussion group with about 25 women.

  2. Spring 2025: 92 women had earned 765 credits and 32 had completed certificates.

  3. This summer: The Mellon-funded Bachelor of Arts in Liberal Studies is slated to launch at the facility.

  4. May: Participant Jameshia Davis has a parole hearing and plans to pursue her degree afterward.

Adult Education Context

Rhodes's Henning program follows the path of the Bard Prison Initiative in New York, which has long offered credited college courses inside prisons. Tennessee's expansion brings that model into a Southern state where such programs have been less common.

Prospective students at the Henning facility can expect credited coursework to continue through Rhodes College, with a full bachelor's degree option arriving this summer. Families and advocates should watch for enrollment details as the men's unit at West Tennessee State Penitentiary begins its own programming.

The takeaway

Expanding credited college courses inside prisons offers a measurable route to education for incarcerated people, and early results from Henning will show whether the model scales to new facilities and a full degree.

What happens next

The Mellon-funded bachelor's program is slated to launch at the Henning facility this summer, and Jameshia Davis's parole hearing is set for May.

Further reading

Explore more on Adult Education for related programs across the state.

Source note: This article includes information reported by WENG 98.1FM, 107.5 FM & 1530 AM.

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