The Bard Prison Initiative (BPI) is a program of

Bard College Bard College is a private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Annandale-on-Hudson, New York. The campus overlooks the Hudson River and Catskill Mountains within the Hudson River Historic District ...

that provides college education to people in prison. BPI currently enrolls 400 students full-time across seven prisons in

New York State New York, also called New York State, is a state in the northeastern United States. Bordered by New England to the east, Canada to the north, and Pennsylvania and New Jersey to the south, its territory extends into both the Atlantic Ocean and ...

. It engage students in the full breadth of

liberal arts Liberal arts education () is a traditional academic course in Western higher education. ''Liberal arts'' takes the term ''skill, art'' in the sense of a learned skill rather than specifically the fine arts. ''Liberal arts education'' can refe ...

culminating in associate and

bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Medieval Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six years ...

s from Bard. The Bard Prison Initiative was founded by undergraduates at Bard College in 1999, after access to Pell Grants was eliminated for incarcerated people in the 1994 Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act, shutting down most

prison education Prison education is any educational activity that occurs inside prison. Courses can include basic literacy programmes, secondary school equivalency programmes, vocational education, and tertiary education. Other activities such as rehabilitatio ...

programs around the country. BPI launched as a pilot with 16 students in 2001. Its first associate degrees were issued in 2005 and the first bachelor’s degrees in 2008. Since 2001, BPI has issued more than 50,000 credits and over 760 degrees; it offers more than 160 courses per academic year. BPI is one of fewer than 14% of college in prison programs that offers reentry services in and outside of prison for its students and alumni. BPI is the subject of '' College Behind Bars'', a 2019 documentary executive produced by

Ken Burns Kenneth Lauren Burns (born July 29, 1953) is an American filmmaker known for his documentary films and television series, many of which chronicle American history and culture. His work is often produced in association with WETA-TV or the Nati ...

and directed by Lynn Novick. That same year, ''College Behind Bars'' was screened at the

New York Film Festival The New York Film Festival (NYFF) is a film festival held every fall in New York City, presented by Film at Lincoln Center. Founded in 1963 by Richard Roud and Amos Vogel with the support of Lincoln Center president William Schuman, NYFF i ...

. In 2020, ''College Behind Bars'' was nominated for an

Emmy The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the year, each with their own set of rules and award catego ...

under the “Outstanding Social Issue Documentary” category. It also won a gold Telly Award in 2020 for “Documentary: Series: Television.” As of 2023, the docuseries has been screened at more than fifty higher education institutions and many jails and prisons in the United States. In 2015, BPI made international news when its debate union won in a match against the debate team from

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

. In 2018, Deadline announced that a movie was being developed by

Warner Brothers Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (WBEI), commonly known as Warner Bros. (WB), is an American filmed entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California and the main namesake subsidiary of Warner Bro ...

about BPI’s 2015 debate with Harvard. The BPI Debate Union was founded in 2013 and has debated universities and colleges such as

Brown University Brown University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Providence, Rhode Island, United States. It is the List of colonial colleges, seventh-oldest institution of higher education in the US, founded in 1764 as the ' ...

, the

University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (Penn or UPenn) is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. One of nine colonial colleges, it was chartered in 1755 through the efforts of f ...

Morehouse College Morehouse College is a Private college, private, Historically black colleges and universities, historically black, Men's colleges in the United States, men's Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Atlanta, Georgia, ...

, and the

University of Cambridge The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...

. As of 2023, BPI’s Debate Union had won twelve debates and lost four. BPI is also the home of the Consortium for the Liberal Arts in Prison, which recruits, assists, and collaborates with colleges and universities across the country as they reestablish college opportunity for people in prison in their home states. In 2019 BPI launched the BPI Summer Residency which trains educators and practitioners to expand college in prison nationally.

Higher Education Beyond Prison

Since 2016 BPI has established full scholarship “Microcolleges” outside of prison where non-residential students earn Bard associate degrees in small campus spaces built inside partner community institutions. The three Bard Microcolleges are: Bard Microcollege Holyoke in Massachusetts, established in 2016 at The Care Center; Bard at

Brooklyn Public Library The Brooklyn Public Library is the public library system of the New York City borough of Brooklyn. It is the sixteenth largest public library system in the United States by holding and the seventh by number of visitors. Like the two Brooklyn Publ ...

, established in 2018 at Central Library in Brooklyn New York; and The Bard Microcollege for Just Community Leadership established in Harlem in 2021 in partnership with JustLeadershipUSA and College & Community Fellowship. In 2020, BPI also created the Bard Baccalaureate – a full scholarship non-residential bachelor’s degree program for adult students over the age of 25 on Bard’s campus in Annandale-on-Hudson, NY.

References

External links

*
PBS documentary on BPI
from

Consortium for the Liberal Arts in Prison
{{Bard college Bard College Prison charities based in the United States Charities based in New York (state)