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The Incarcerated Scholars Conference is a chance to unite voices from across the country, fostering collaboration and solidarity. 

This conference offers a meaningful opportunity for students to participate in a national (and global) academic community. For many incarcerated people, this is a rare chance to share their work, connect with peers across institutions, and see themselves as part of something larger than their immediate environment.

ISC fosters connection, reflection, and growth. It helps students understand that higher education in prison is not happening in isolation. It is part of a broader and ongoing effort across the country to support learning, creativity, and academic achievement.

The impact doesn’t end with the conference; it offers students a way to build confidence, expand their thinking, and stay engaged in their academic journey.

The impact of ISC also extends far beyond academic and correctional institutions. It reaches families, loved ones, children, and communities, offering connection, pride, and a sense of possibility that carries into every part of life beyond the classroom or facility. It also plays a vital role in shifting public narratives and perceptions about who incarcerated scholars are and what they contribute.

The conference agenda, which outlines the basic schedule of both days of the conference, is now available.

We are offering a limited number of financial aid packages for NCHEP 15. We value our community’s attendance at our biggest event of the year!

Financial aid applications were due October 19th and are now closed.

Be a part of what makes this conference a success! While our volunteer interest form is now closed, you can still learn more about available volunteer opportunities by emailing the conference planning team at nchep@higheredinprison.org.

**Please note: volunteers must already be registered for the event.

Presentation proposal submissions were due October 19th and the CFP is now closed.

We hope to share recordings from the 2025 conference once we obtain the necessary permissions. Please stay tuned to our social media channels, where we’ll post updates and share approved recordings on our YouTube page if they become publicly available.

ISC presentations will be webinars. Most presenters will be presenting live, though some presentations will be pre-recorded. The webinar Q&A feature will be moderated by Alliance staff.

We're offering a limited number of tables for organizations to share about their work, provide resources, and/or offer swag.

Tables will be located in the area just outside the Grand Ballroom at the Sheraton New Orleans, right in the heart of the conference!

Our interest form is now closed, but you can email the planning team at nchep@higheredinprison.org with any questions.

**Please note: To table, organizations must have at least one representative already registered for the event.

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The application to be a reviewer for NCHEP 15 was due October 10th and the Call for Reviewers is now closed.

In order to share the creative work of incarcerated and formerly incarcerated artists in the Expressive Arts Plenary and the Virtual Art Exposition during the Incarcerated Scholars Conference (ISC), the Alliance for Higher Education in Prison secured media releases from all featured artists. We take the trust that artists place in us very seriously, and our ethical commitment limits the use of this artwork to ISC and to the forthcoming ISC Art Gallery, which will again make an appearance at NCHEP in April 2026.‍

We consider the ISC Art Gallery to be a bridge between ISC and NCHEP, and several selected creative works from both ISC conference years will be included in the ISC Art Gallery at NCHEP 15. Artists whose work is selected for the art gallery will be compensated for their contributions.‍

We will not distribute slides, images, or digital copies of the artwork outside of our own hosted exhibitions and promotional materials, as we believe doing so would compromise the trust that these artists and their programs have given us. We hope to display the creative works in an online gallery on our website in the near future. At this time, the Alliance also does not have the capacity to facilitate direct contact between members of the public and the artists or their representatives for the purpose of obtaining permissions.‍

We are deeply grateful to the artists and educators who make this work possible, and remain committed to honoring the dignity of their creative expression.‍

NCHEP is made possible by the generosity and engagement of individuals and organizations. Here’s how you or your organization can help us make this event a success:

• Volunteer: Share your time and skills by assisting with event logistics in New Orleans. Learn more by clicking on + VOLUNTEER above.
• Donate: Contributions of any size directly support our mission and help us plan NCHEP, our flagship event. Donate today.
• Sponsor: Partner with us to highlight your organization’s commitment to access to quality higher education in prison. Learn more.

NCHEP 15 will be an in-person conference in Cleveland, Ohio, except for those who are currently incarcerated. Virtual attendance via Zoom will only be possible for currently incarcerated presenters during selected events.

We know that travel isn’t possible for everyone, and we do our best to make our events as accessible and accommodating as we can. At this time, however, the audiovisual and staffing requirements for a hybrid conference make it cost-prohibitive. By focusing our resources on the in-person experience, we can keep the conference more affordable, provide some financial aid opportunities, and ensure high-quality programming for all attendees.

Yes, this virtual event is free and open to everyone! Please share this page with your network.

** Registration is now completely SOLD OUT **

All conference attendees (except presenters who are currently incarcerated) must register.

If you’d like to be notified if additional spots do become available, please join our Notification List using the link below.

The NCHEP Planning Team will make every effort to support accommodation requests and the full participation of all attendees. You will be able to request accommodations during the registration process.

Registration for NCHEP 15 will open in late November 2025.

This year, we are working to accommodate many more attendees and hope that registration will not sell out as it has in previous years. That said, we encourage all those interested in attending to keep an eye on our updates and register as soon as possible.

Yes. Please register using the link above.

Registration for NCHEP 14 will be $375 ($225 for students).

NCHEP 14 will take place in the heart of New Orleans at the Sheraton New Orleans Hotel on Canal St.

For more information on reserving a hotel room using our discounted room block as well as information about additional hotels within walking distance of the conference venue, please visit the logistics page.

Registration fees for NCHEP 15: 

• Pay It Forward Rate - $875 (For those who can afford to pay, this rate will help subsidize the cost of student pricing and financial aid awards)
• Solidarity Rate - $550 (The standard rate for NCHEP 15)
• Student Rate - $325 (For students currently enrolled in an educational program - only 100 tickets will be available at this rate)

Over the past several years, the Alliance has worked hard to keep NCHEP registration fee rates stable, even during times of inflation. As this convening has grown to welcome nearly 1,000 attendees in 2023 and 2025, the event has also become more complex to plan and host. In order to ensure the long-term sustainability of this now-annual event, we’ve made the difficult but necessary decision to increase registration fees this year. This adjustment will help us cover the true costs of hosting a conference at this scale, offer financial aid awards, and ensure the continuation of this gathering that supports and strengthens the field for years to come.

NCHEP 14 will be an in-person conference in New Orleans, Louisiana for everyone except those who are currently incarcerated. Virtual attendance via Zoom will only be possible for currently incarcerated participants during selected events.

We advise attendees to arrive in New Orleans on Wednesday, April 9th and depart on Saturday, April 12th.

The conference will begin the morning of Thursday, April 10th and end the evening of Friday, April 11th. In order to get the full conference experience, we recommend that you not travel on conference days.

We are encouraging attendees to consider arriving in Cleveland on April 7th to be able to attend pre-conference events and departing from Cleveland on April 11th.

• Pre-conference events will begin the morning of Wednesday, April 8th, 2026 (more info coming soon!)
• General conference programming will begin the morning of Thursday, April 9th and end the evening of Friday, April 10th.

In order to get the full conference experience, we recommend that you not travel on conference days.

We will also be partnering with nearby hotels to offer NCHEP attendees discounted rates in conference room blocks. We highly recommend waiting to book your hotel room until registration opens so that you will have access to these discounted rates.

NCHEP will make every effort to support accommodation requests and the full participation of all attendees. You will be able to request accommodations during the registration process.

Please send us an email at nchep@higheredinprison.org.

Each day of the conference, there will be two sets of scholarly presentations happening at the same time. These are talks where different presenters share their research and ideas. Some presentations will be done individually by one person, and some presentations will be done in groups.

There will also be an expressive arts plenary each day, where creative works such as poems and visual artworks will be presented. Creative works will not be presented by the artist at the conference, but will be displayed/presented/read by conference staff.

Each presentation is part of a specific topic or track, which presenters selected when submitting their proposals. These tracks give attendees some more insight into the content of the presentation.

• Beyond the Classroom: How can higher education in prison impact people, communities, and the world at large?
• Classroom Culture: How can we build supportive learning environments within the carceral space?
• Lessons Learned: In order to improve quality practices, what are some of the most valuable lessons you would like to share with prison education programs, practitioners, prospective students, and corrections?
• Inside Leadership: How can student advisory councils, student government, etc. enrich higher education in prison?