How We Work

“It was really the community college that gave me the structure to transform my life. Higher education not only had an impact on my life, but it also had an impact on the life of my family members and my community. I am able to share the knowledge that I have and make it accessible to them.”

“When we started our program we worked with an advisory council of women inside; the women actually invited us to do our program. It's always been a collaboration. I think as an extension of that, I see more of this work being led by people who are justice-impacted, formerly incarcerated, and people moving into leadership positions not just in this field but in policy and in the university. My organization will hopefully be directed by a former student. That will, I think, really change the landscape of how we think about education in prison and criminal justice in general.”

“The kind of change that education is making is inspiring for everyone. It affects the individual who's receiving the education. It affects the people around them within the prison. And it affects their families and communities without them having ever set foot outside of the prison.”

“My hope for the movement for higher education in prison is for institutions of higher education to realize that we have dehumanized a population and that anytime you do that it's affecting all of society. We need to be cognizant of it. We need to course correct as soon as possible instead of discriminating against more people we need to include them into our higher education practices.”

“Over the last two decades, the 700% increase in incarceration was concentrated among people with no high school diploma or GED. By and large incarcerated people are not offered any access to higher education. According to our research, less than 5% of colleges and universities that are regionally accredited in the US are providing higher education in prison. Colleges and universities must recognize incarcerated people as potential college students, fully capable, and worthy of their investment.”

“I would say that higher education has allowed me to find out what potential I have, the abilities or capabilities I have, and figure out my calling in life. And that is, helping those who I left behind.”

"At Rutgers University we have a group of students that are matriculating onto campus and they form a sense of community through the support programs that we offer, and they form a sense of community amongst themselves. The kinds of support system that they create for each other, and the way in which they lift each other up, and sometimes drag each other through completion is really amazing to watch. They really pull together and take care of each other and get each other through to graduation."