Poster #87 - Reentry Supports to Facilitate Continued Higher Education After Prison – Insights from New York’s Public Universities

• In Event: Friday Poster Reception

Abstract

Over the last several years, the state of New York has expanded access to higher education in prison. The bulk of incarcerated higher education students move through programs of the State University of New York (SUNY), and several private colleges also offer higher educational opportunities in prisons. Over 1,000 students each year benefit from college in prison programs across the state.

Many of these students reenter local communities each year before completing their degrees, and the system does not often make it easy to transition into higher education outside prison. The barriers to effective continuation of higher education for reentering individuals include logistical/administrative barriers in the corrections system (e.g. missing IDs or other documentation). There are also barriers related to the higher education system itself (e.g. a lack of effective systems for transferring credits between institutions). Finally, barriers related to social stigma and discrimination create additional challenges for individuals returning from incarceration.

SUNY’s Office of Higher Education in Prison (OHEP) is working to address these challenges from multiple angles. This paper will examine different methods of enhancing effective reentry supports and services, including working to improve credit transfer and articulation agreements (both among SUNY institutions and between SUNY and non-SUNY institutions), developing and disseminating guidance and resources to educational providers and other stakeholders, and building and deepening collaborations with community-based partners who can provide a range of supports to individuals upon reentry. These strategies offer useful guidance for stakeholders in both the higher educational and correctional sectors, and can help point the way to a system more grounded in justice and opportunity for all.

Authors

• Darryl S Epps, State University of New York - SUNY Higher Education in Prison
  Presenting Author

• Brielle Mariucci, Public Policy Lab
  Non-Presenting Co-Author

• Brendan Mapes, The State University of New York, Office of Higher Education in Prison
  Non-Presenting Co-Author