This content is excerpted from a conversation between Patrick Rodriguez and NCAN Ascendium Fellows Bailey Capelle, Senior Director of Advising Programs and Services at College Now Greater Cleveland, Taffany Lim, Executive Director of California State University - Los Angeles’ Center for Engagement, Service and the Public Good, and Travis Sands, Director, College in Prison, Metropolitan State University (St. Paul, MN)
In addition to helping students access postsecondary educational opportunities, college access and success (CAS) programs often provide retention support, helping students get across the college finish line. Through personalized advising, scholarships,
career counseling, academic tutoring, and more, CAS programs often provide the customized support and accountability that students need to attain a degree or credential, and this is an area where CAS programs may be able to adapt their models to serving
students who are incarcerated or are entering free society.
Understanding how to support this population in attaining a degree requires understanding the unique challenges of the prison environment, such as facility logistics, how key information is shared, and systemic barriers to success, and how those barriers
can impede a student’s ability to complete the requirements of the higher education in prison program.
This resource details the main challenges students face to attaining a degree and explores innovative and effective retention strategies that have been employed by National College Attainment Network (NCAN) fellows who are experienced higher education
in prison (HEP) educators and program leaders. Their approaches highlight the need for holistic and adaptable solutions that create supportive environments for justice-impacted students to thrive. Retention is not merely the number of students that
stay in and graduate from a program, but is the environment and community that is created to foster student success and transformation.
Barriers to success in prison education
CAS program leaders understand that students from difficult circumstances often face complex barriers to attaining a degree or credential. Caregiving responsibilities, economic realities, lack of academic preparedness, and lack of social support are just
some of the barriers that can stand in the way of students attaining a degree. People in prison face many of the same barriers confronting students in the free world, along with other issues that are unique to carceral settings. Here is a short list
of the most common barriers to success of prison education programs:
Logistical challenges
Prison locations: Prisons are often located in remote settings that require extensive travel and time to get to, making it difficult for programs to be started or staffed by university faculty and staff. Sometimes, even when programming
is scheduled and staff has traveled a long distance, it is not guaranteed that students will be allowed to participate in programming.
Security: In prison environments, security is paramount and can trigger dormitory lockdowns, segregation policies, and inconsistent access to educational materials. These issues can cause insufficient execution of programs and disruptions
to course delivery.
Lack of space: Space is a major constraint in many prisons. Finding available classroom space can take time.
Technology restrictions: Accessing technology is often a major challenge. Correctional institutions have different policies about what technology students can access. See the section on technology assistance for more information about how to navigate tech policies in prison.
Administrative requirements: The administrative burden on program leaders can inhibit success. “We need all kinds of documents processed, invoices paid, courses scheduled, and so forth. Basically everything that happens in a university
has to happen in our programs, but manually at a smaller scale, and without students having access to most tools and resources they need to complete tasks themselves,” said Sands.
Limited resources: Lack of resources can make it difficult to secure course materials, especially ones that are rigorous and recent.
Access processes: Prisons have different ways of approving whether or not someone can come into a prison as a volunteer, contractor, or faculty member. These processes can be lengthy and sometimes deter volunteers and faculty from
even wanting to engage with an HEP program.
Student-specific barriers
Preparedness and trauma: Many students in prison education programs are first-generation college students from low-income backgrounds, and they face all the challenges that any first generation college student faces along with the
challenges of what being incarcerated means for them as well. “The majority of our incarcerated students have experienced more than their share of childhood trauma and experiences that make academics especially difficult,” said Lim. These experiences
can manifest in a lack of self-confidence and the need for additional academic and emotional support.
Mandatory treatment plans: Students in prison can receive treatment plans that are mandatory based on evidence of substance use, anger management issues, family reconnection, and more. Depending on the timing of these interventions,
treatments can disrupt the continuity of educational programming. Some treatment mandates require that students stop out of education, often with the additional requirement of moving to prisons that are not currently operating higher education
programs. “Students have repeatedly told us that their education and treatment/recovery work in conjunction and mutually support one another, and that having to choose one over the other imperils both,” reflected Sands.
Systemic Exclusion
Sentence restrictions: Sometimes individuals serving longer sentences are denied access to higher education. Some correctional facilities prioritize individuals with shorter sentences for limited higher education, making people with
longer sentences wait in line to participate in programming.
Racial and ethnic disparities: Even though Black Americans are overly represented in correctional facilities, prison education programs don’t always reflect the demographics of the facility. According to Sands, “we have been largely
successful in ensuring this match, but given that we need to rely on prison staff to disseminate calls for interest, aggregate those responses, and vet prospective students, according to Department of Corrections’ policies, we have seen an underrepresentation
of Native students and students of color in prospective student lists at some facilities.”
Retention strategies
Mindsets and attitudes
First and foremost, NCAN fellows emphasized the need to be flexible, optimistic, and willing to go to the mat for students. “One of the students in our first cohort told me on day one that if we were going to be successful, EVERYONE involved
would need to be “flex-o-mistic,” that is, our collective attitude would need to be both FLEXIBLE and OPTIMISTIC at all times. This work can be very hard, very lonely, and very unpredictable. But when we bring our
flex-o-mistic selves to the table, it makes the work much easier,” said Lim.
“I think the most interesting realization I had is that taking an active role in influencing policy is one of the best ways to help our students. I was surprised at the level of bias I encountered within the spaces that support justice-impacted individuals.
Be ready to challenge people, and get comfortable being uncomfortable. These conversations need to happen to ensure we provide this basic human right to all people,” said Capelle.
Mentoring and holistic support models
One college access organization’s proven retention program adds an additional layer of support for justice-impacted students to what higher education institutions are already providing. At College Now Greater Cleveland (CNGC), when students are awarded a scholarship, they are paired with a mentor with similar lived experiences, interests, and/or career goals. The mentor - who has successfully navigated the postsecondary process - alongside CNGC staff provide individual
support to students as they persist towards degree completion. CNGC students persist at an average of 93% from the first to second year, 84% from the second to third year, and 77% from the third to fourth. Nationwide, regardless of income, first-to-second
year persistence stands at 76.5%, and overall graduation rates in the US are 62% and 45% for Pell Grant recipients. “That’s a big difference, demonstrating the importance of mentors,” said Capelle.
In addition to mentors, CGNC also offers one-time emergency funding (annually) to the students the organization supports. A student can apply for CGNC to pay their rent for a month, or a car repair, etc. to ensure they are able to remain in school. “We
know there are so many barriers, and the retention strategies have to acknowledge them and address them,” Capelle added.
Cultivating connections among students by enrolling them as a cohort. The cohort model allows students to, “support and encourage each other through the good and the bad and even after they’ve graduated and come home. They refer to themselves as brothers,”
said Lim.
Employing tenured and tenure track faculty as much as possible. This approach means that the students not only form a strong bond with their faculty while they’re inside, but when they come home, they continue to be mentored and guided by the same
faculty.
Providing a seamless transition to the main campus for students who are released before completing their degree, including by offering a full suite of wrap-around support services so that students can be successful both academically and personally.
“We have a 100% retention rate of students who come home and many of them have gone on to earn their master’s degrees with us! We provide academic support to help students prepare to succeed in college courses and we constantly remind our students
that ‘Once a Golden Eagle, always a Golden Eagle’,” said Lim.
Ecosystem approach
The Transformation and Reentry Through Education and Community (TREC) Program at Metropolitan State University, or Metro State, uses an ecosystem approach with a
four-year higher education continuum at its base. For in-prison programs, the organization has employed a “2+2” model (a partnership between Minneapolis College and Metro State) has been key to retention because it creates a community of students
in various stages of their educational careers. Students across the continuum see themselves as part of a single student body. They share resources, study halls, and even faculty, and this environment offers organic opportunities for peer mentoring
and allows students to connect with faculty and staff who they will be working with through B.A. completion.
This partnership approach also offers two clear milestones as part of a single trajectory: an A.A. and a B.A. TREC planfully supports this trajectory with structured study hall support (what they call learning labs) provided several times a week by program
coordinators. For their B.A. program, every student meets at least once a semester with a dedicated tenure-stream faculty advisor who also teaches their cornerstone and capstone courses. Finally, reentry programming is also a core retention strategy
both for incarcerated students and students who have returned to their main campuses. Academic transition serves a critical role in successful transition more broadly, and students who start in prison education programs know that they will have wraparound
support through their institutions when they are out.
Academic and study habits support
Through potential partnerships with prison education programs, CAS programs can provide tutoring and share learnings about how to help students who are struggling with math, reading, and writing. Some CAS programs have introduced pre-college preparatory
courses to help students prepare for college coursework. Goal setting, study habits, and meeting homework expectations are just a few things that should be included in the onboarding process.
While the challenges to degree attainment are significant, it is possible for students to overcome them with thoughtful support and retention is an area where CAS programs can have a big impact. Retention in HEP programs goes beyond keeping students enrolled;
it’s about building support systems that empower students to overcome barriers, thrive academically, and transform their futures. By centering advocacy, collaboration, and community, NCAN members can help create environments where justice-impacted
students have the tools they need to succeed.
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