Higher Education Continuum

The Educational Initiatives is PRI’s direct-services effort that aims to increase the number of New Yorkers who have been involved with the criminal justice system attend and succeed in college. PRI’s Educational Initiatives operates two flagship programs designed to make college a reality for people seeking to transcend the barriers of their criminal justice involvement.

• Prison-to-College Pipeline provides college readiness and accredited college courses for students who are inside correctional facilities, and
• College Initiative provides post-correctional academic counseling and mentoring services to aid students in enrolling and making a successful adjustment to college in the community.

Together, these programs constitute a continuum of educational services that enable currently and formerly-incarcerated, and other justice-involved, students to attend, succeed in, and graduate from college.

While higher education is powerful – even transformational – for people in the justice system, the spectrum of educational needs within correctional facilities goes beyond accredited college courses. In order to maximize the benefits of higher education for this population, students need adequate preparation for college-level work as well as transitional support to continue their education in the community after release.

Learn more about in-prison college courses provided through PRI’s Prison-to-College Pipeline program.

Learn more about support for justice-involved men and women looking to pursue college in the community with the help of PRI program College Initiative.