the freedom education project puget sound

What the freedom education project puget sound does

The Freedom Education Project Puget Sound (FEPPS) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit founded around 2011-2012 that delivers accredited higher education to women incarcerated at the Washington Corrections Center for Women (WCCW) in Gig Harbor, Washington. It operates an on-site Associate of Arts program and, since Winter 2021, Washington state's first accredited Bachelor of Arts program for incarcerated women; the inaugural BA cohort graduated in June 2024. Instruction is delivered in person and via paper-based distance learning — students have no internet access — drawing on a volunteer faculty of 140+ instructors from more than 25 academic institutions, supplemented by a small paid staff of 12-15.

The organization holds Second Chance Pell Experimental Site designation and partners with the University of Puget Sound and, as of 2024, Olympic College, which now serves as the degree-granting and accreditation home. Coursework is accredited through these partner institutions, enabling federal Pell funding and credit transfer. FEPPS also runs a Pathways Program supporting students post-release and co-founded the multi-state WHEP Consortium in 2025 alongside comparable programs in Maine, Ohio, and Hawaii.

FEPPS is funded by a mix of foundation grants (notably a $1M Mellon Foundation grant for the BA program), individual donations, and event proceeds; the most recent disclosed financials date to 2017 and show total support of approximately $493K, with no public update since. The organization is governed by a board, led since April 2024 by Executive Director Alyssa Knight, and recognized regionally through Seattle Times coverage and sector awards.

Name

the freedom education project puget sound

Legal name

Freedom Education Project Puget Sound

Website

https://fepps.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2011

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

The Freedom Education Project Puget Sound is a nonprofit that delivers accredited Associate and Bachelor of Arts college programs to women incarcerated at Washington's WCCW facility, using on-site and paper-based instruction delivered by volunteer faculty from 25+ partner institutions.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Prison Education Services

NAICS

Junior Colleges (61121), Colleges, Universities, and Professional Schools (6113)

SIC

Services-Educational Services (8200)

akta.pro primary industry

Correctional Education Programs (Community College-Delivered) (EDAHADAN)

Keywords

• Higher education in prison
• College degrees for incarcerated
• Prison education programs
• Reentry academic support
• Women's prison education

Headquarters

HQ city

Seattle

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Others

Revenue model

1. Individual Donations: Tax-deductible donations from individuals; FEPPS is a registered 501(c)(3) with EIN 45-5291038; donors encouraged to take advantage of employer matching programs
2. Foundation Grants: Major foundation support from Mellon Foundation, AAUW, Seattle Foundation, and others; Mellon Foundation provided $1 million grant for BA degree program development
3. Corporate Sponsorship: Corporate sponsors for events or programs; matching gifts through employer programs encouraged
4. In-Kind Contributions: School supplies, technology donations, volunteer time; Amazon Wishlist for supplies; composition notebooks, pens, post-it notes, and books provided quarterly
5. Event Fundraising: Annual gala (Graduating to Greatness), Back to School Bash; raised over $52,000 at 2017 gala and over $30,000 at 2019 Back to School Bash

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion3 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Freedom Education Project Puget Sound (FEPPS) is a nonprofit organization that provides accredited college degree programs to women incarcerated at the Washington Corrections Center for Women (WCCW) in Gig Harbor, WA. It offers an Associate of Arts degree accredited by Olympic College and a Bachelor of Arts in Liberal Studies accredited by the University of Puget Sound, with all instruction delivered in person inside the prison facility on a quarter system. Students pay no tuition or fees; all costs are covered through donations, foundation grants, and corporate sponsorships.

Product overview

Freedom Education Project Puget Sound (FEPPS) provides a rigorous, accredited college program for incarcerated women at Washington Corrections Center for Women. The organization offers two degree pathways: an Associate of Arts degree accredited by Olympic College and a Bachelor of Arts in Liberal Studies accredited by the University of Puget Sound. FEPPS complements its academic offerings with a Pathways Re-entry Support Program helping students transition to continued education post-release, extracurricular enrichment programs including study halls, creative writing, and film series, and leads the national Womxn's Higher Education in Prison (WHEP) Consortium. All instruction occurs in-person at the prison using paper-based materials; no technology products or online learning platforms are offered.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Quantifiable outcome

• More than 400 students have taken courses with FEPPS
• +6 more outcomes

Named customers5 records

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature2 records

Partnerships

Ten partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Olympic CollegecoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2024Accreditation partner for Associate of Arts degree. FEPPS transferred accreditation from Tacoma Community College to Olympic College in 2024. AA degree is included under Washington State Board for Community and Technical College's Direct Transfer Agreement (DTA), allowing transfer to any public four-year school in the state with junior standing.
• University of Puget SoundcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2019BA degree accreditation partner. Board of Trustees unanimously approved BA in Liberal Studies in October 2019. First BA cohort began Winter 2021. University President Isiaah Crawford and Trustees supported development. FEPPS is a signature initiative of University of Puget Sound. BA graduates receive degrees from University of Puget Sound.
• Tacoma Community CollegecoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2014Original accreditation partner for AA degree (accreditation since 2014, now transitioned to Olympic College). Also runs GED and vocational college programs at WCCW. FEPPS pools resources with TCC for care packages. TCC Foundation provided $7,000 contribution for supplies.
• Bard Prison Initiative National ConsortiumminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerMember of national consortium of liberal arts in prison programs. Part of network sharing best practices and collaborative learning across prison education programs.
• Second Chance PellcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerDesignated as Second Chance Pell Site, allowing eligible students to receive federal Pell Grants for prison education programs despite ban on Pell Grants for incarcerated students being lifted in 2023.
• Washington Department of CorrectionscoreOthersDOC partnership required for operating inside state prisons. FEPPS staff are contracted education staff considered essential workers. Partnership enables access to WCCW and MCCCW facilities for educational programming.
• Black Prisoners CaucusminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner organization providing emotional and physical support for events at WCCW. Collaborated on Juneteenth event and other community programming.
• Henry Art GalleryminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaboration on 'We Own Our Words' zine of poetry and art created by FEPPS students. Published in collaboration with Henry Art Gallery, with physical copies at gallery and digital version available.
• Community Organizations (45+)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerOver 45 community organizations participated in Community Connections 2025 event, including educational, employment, family support, mental health, legal advocacy, and reentry planning organizations.
• WHEP Consortium MemberscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerWHEP (Womxn's Higher Education in Prison) Consortium inaugural members include: Georgetown University Prisons and Justice Initiative, Goucher Prison Education Partnership, MVSU Prison Education Partnership Program, NJ-STEP, Portland State University HEP, Eastern Michigan University College in Prison Program, Tennessee Higher Education Initiative, Wesleyan Center for Prison Education, UPWARD, Utah Prison Education Project. Led by FEPPS.

Scale indicators16 records

Recent moves8 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Bard Prison Initiative: The most established college-in-prison program in the U.S., offering BA degrees at multiple men's prisons through Bard College. FEPPS is a member of the Bard-led National Consortium and shares an analogous model of accredited liberal-arts degrees taught by college faculty to incarcerated students.
• Hudson Link for Higher Education in Prison: Provides AA and BA college degrees to incarcerated individuals in New York through partner colleges, with strong reentry support. Operates a multi-site prison higher-ed program with a similar volunteer-faculty and reentry-pathways model to FEPPS.
• Goucher Prison Education Partnership: Maryland-based prison higher-education program offering accredited college courses taught by university faculty inside state prisons. WHEP Consortium member; comparable small-team, university-credited model serving incarcerated students.
• Wesleyan Center for Prison Education: Liberal-arts college-in-prison program at Wesleyan University serving Connecticut prisons, with credits transferable to Wesleyan. Comparable in academic model, faculty sourcing, and BA-level instruction to FEPPS.
• Northwestern Prison Education Program: University-based prison higher-education program offering college courses and degrees to incarcerated individuals at Stateville Correctional Center in Illinois. FEPPS staff (e.g., Program Assistant Anna Dellit) have worked there, and the program is a WHEP Consortium member.
• Georgetown Prisons and Justice Initiative: Georgetown University's prison higher-education initiative offering courses in DC-area prisons. WHEP Consortium inaugural member; similar university-accredited model and liberal-arts curriculum to FEPPS.
• Petey Greene Program: Provides volunteer tutoring and academic support to incarcerated students across multiple states, supplementing in-prison college instruction. Comparable mission of expanding higher-education access behind the wall, complementary to FEPPS's degree-focused model.
• Portland State University Higher Education in Prison: Higher Education in Prison program at Portland State University serving Oregon prisons. WHEP Consortium member with a directly comparable university-credited instruction and volunteer-faculty model.
• Eastern Michigan University College in Prison Program: University-based prison higher-education program at EMU serving Michigan prisons. WHEP Consortium member; closely comparable academic and operational model to FEPPS.
• Tennessee Higher Education Initiative: Provides postsecondary education to incarcerated individuals in Tennessee prisons. WHEP Consortium inaugural member with an analogous accredited-degree-inside-prison model.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks7 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/FreedomEdProj
• Facebookfacebook.com/FreedomEducationProjectPugetSound
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/freedom-education-project-puget-sound

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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