Contacts:
[email protected]
(845) 758-7342
Program Description: The Bard Prison Initiative (BPI) offers comprehensive college opportunity, career development, and reentry services to hundreds of men and women in New York State. Founded by Max Kenner as a student volunteer organization in 1999, BPI began offering credit-bearing coursework in 2001 and now enrolls 300 students in Bard College AA and BA degree programs across six medium- and maximum-security prisons. The more than 60 courses offered each semester are of the same quality of instruction and level of rigor as on the main campus of the college, and they represent a full spectrum of academic disciplines, including history, literature, mathematics, anthropology, philosophy, foreign languages, politics, biology, computer science, studio arts, and public health. Through BPI, Bard College will have enrolled 750 students and conferred nearly 450 degrees by the end of 2016.
Degrees Offered: Associate in Arts (AA) and Bachelor of Arts (BA)
Programs Offered: Coursework in the natural sciences, studio arts, foreign languages, mathematics, literature and an array of the social sciences are offered every semester
Unique Features: Through the national Consortium for the Liberal Arts in Prison, BPI supports other innovative college-in-prison programs throughout the country.
Headquarters: Annandale-on-Hudson, NY
Correctional Facilities Served: Coxsackie Correctional Facility, Eastern NY Correctional Facility, Fishkill Correctional Facility, Green Haven Correctional Facility, Taconic Correctional Facility, Woodbourne Correctional Facility
Population Served:BPI enrolls men and women across six medium-and maximum-security prisons.
Number of Students:300
Graduates to Date:By the end of 2016, Bard College will have conferred nearly 450 degrees through BPI.
Year Founded: 1999, accredited in 2001
Founders: Max Kenner (Bard ’01)
College/University/Organization Partnerships: Bard College
Funding: Privately funded by money raised specifically for BPI