Bard Prison Initiative Accepts Transfer Students and Expands as Two Colleges Close

This summer and fall, in response to two coinciding college-in-prison program closures, the Bard Prison Initiative (BPI) at Bard College has undertaken an unprecedented transfer and enrollment project to ensure no incarcerated college student is left without the ability to complete a degree. 

Following financial struggles, two New York private universities, Medaille University and Alliance University have announced closing this year. Both Medaille and Alliance had long standing college-in-prison operations, enrolling incarcerated students in degree programs at Albion Correctional Facility for women and at Fishkill Correctional Facility for men, respectively.  

BPI, which enrolls incarcerated students in Bard College associate and bachelor’s degrees across seven NYS correctional facilities, had been operating degree programs alongside these universities at Albion Fishkill for several years. In addition to running its general admissions process this summer, BPI offered Medaille and Alliance students immediate enrollment in Bard College as transfer students. BPI’s leadership team met with prospective transfer students both as a group and in one-on-one advising meetings to make sure students could make informed decisions about transferring into BPI. 

In total, 80 former Medaille and Alliance students enrolled with BPI, alongside 122 students through standard admissions, marking the largest single expansion of BPI to date.

The Medaille college-in-prison program closed in May, and former Medaille transfer students were enrolled in BPI for the summer semester. The Alliance college-in-prison program continued courses through the summer semester and those students who opted to transfer into BPI enrolled with Bard at the end of August. At Fishkill, BPI worked closely with Alliance University administrators to ensure a smooth transition for students, and collaborated on a Teach Out Agreement. Medaille University’s former students at Albion were granted the same terms included in the formal Teach Out Agreement. 

The enrollment of Medaille and Alliance students will double the size of BPI’s student body at Albion and Fishkill Correctional Facilities. As a result, BPI has hired more faculty, added courses, provided the requisite course materials, and dedicated additional staff time to both sites. At Fishkill, the new students will necessitate an upgrade and expansion of the BPI computer lab. As transfer students leave prison, they will be eligible for all BPI reentry and alumni/ae support services, so BPI is adding capacity on that front as well. 

Post Date: 09-07-2023