The Alliance for Higher Education in Prison’s First Annual Report introduces the reader to its mission, goals, values, and everyday work. It also orients the reader to its many ongoing projects, as well as the many people who make the Alliance what it is. This First Annual Report covers the Alliance for Higher Education in Prison’s broader operations for the fiscal calendar year between July 1, 2020, and June 30, 2021.

This report introduces the Alliance for Higher Education in Prison's mission, goals, values, and everyday work. It orients the reader to the Alliance's many ongoing projects and its work for the 2021 fiscal year, and identifies some of the exciting work and transitions that lie ahead. The document covers the Alliance for Higher Education in Prison’s broader operations for the fiscal calendar year between July 1, 2021, and June 30, 2022.

The Journal of Higher Education in Prison (JHEP) is a space to raise the kinds of questions that wrestle with the histories and circumstances of coordinated human removal and that privilege futures in which prisons, jails, detention centers, and all other locations designed to confine and cage people are not permanent fixtures in our world or imagination. We hope that this journal can be of service to those futures, and we think that there should be a venue where practitioners, scholars, activists, and students can come together to share ideas, stories, research, experiences, theories, and practices toward the end of prisons and punishment. Unlike publication outlets that focus on the site of prisons or jails and the people inside them as unique places for education to occur, we approach this journal with criticisms of our current conditions and deep knowledge of and respect for educational theory and praxis.

This discussion guide is a useful tool for facilitators leading thoughtful conversations about the content in the report, and for notetakers seeking to capture important ideas and action items. You’ll find questions, materials, and guidelines, as well as instructions and tips for both facilitators and notetakers. The purpose of the discussion guide is to create a dialogue among people who care about improving equity, access, and excellence in higher education in prison programs. Staff and program administrators can use this discussion guide to:
• Discuss opportunities and talk with students and other stakeholders about your program and about
higher education in prison more broadly.
• Support efforts to continuously improve the Equity and Excellence in Practice report.
• Guide the ongoing work of the Alliance for Higher Education in Prison.
The discussion guide ends with an invitation to share your feedback with the Alliance in an effort to help improve its programming efforts.

With support from an anonymous donor, Hudson Link for Higher Education in Prison and the Saint Louis University Prison Program have spearheaded a year-long planning process related to the formation of a national organization for higher education in prison. Throughout the process, input was gathered from a broad range of stakeholders and key partners related to the purpose and promise of higher education in prison, its role in addressing larger issues of injustice in our society, and ways in which a national organization could serve to increase access to higher education in prison. The process included research and interviews with other national organizations, stakeholder feedback collected via surveys (online and paper) and focus groups, and three distinct strategic planning workshops. The planning process culminated in this Prospectus, a working document to support further planning for and the launch of the Alliance for Higher Education in Prison (AHEP), a national organization with a mission to support the expansion of quality higher education in prison, empower students in prison and after release, and shape public discussion about education and incarceration.

With support from an anonymous donor, Hudson Link for Higher Education in Prison and the Saint Louis University Prison Program have spearheaded a year-long planning process related to the formation of a national organization for higher education in prison. Throughout the process, input was gathered from a broad range of stakeholders and key partners related to the purpose and promise of higher education in prison, its role in addressing larger issues of injustice in our society, and ways in which a national organization could serve to increase access to higher education in prison. The process included research and interviews with other national organizations, stakeholder feedback collected via surveys (online and paper) and focus groups, and three distinct strategic planning workshops. The planning process has culminated in this Prospectus, a working document to support further planning for and the launch of the Alliance for Higher Education in Prison (AHEP), a national organization with a mission to support the expansion of quality higher education in prison, empower students in prison and after release, and shape public discussion about education and incarceration.

This document provides highlights from data collected prior (e.g., online registration and scholarship application), during (e.g., onsite registration, panel attendance), and after (Exit Report and unsolicited feedback/emails) the 2017 NCHEP.

This 2020 annual survey was distributed by the Alliance for Higher Education in Prison.

The Landscape Survey contained 93 questions designed to collect both descriptive and open-ended responses from participants about their college in prison programs during the 2018-2019 academic year.

The Understanding the Landscape of Higher Education Prison Survey (Landscape Survey) was designed as a confidential follow-up to the 2020 Annual Survey of Higher Education in Prison Programs (2020 Annual Survey), distributed by the Alliance for Higher Education in Prison. The Landscape Survey contained 93 questions designed to collect both descriptive and open-ended responses from participants about their college-in-prison programs during the 2018-2019 academic year.

The Understanding the Landscape of Higher Education Prison Survey (Landscape Survey) was designed as a confidential follow-up to the 2020 Annual Survey of Higher Education in Prison Programs (2020 Annual Survey), distributed by the Alliance for Higher Education in Prison. The Landscape Survey contained 93 questions designed to collect both descriptive and open-ended responses from participants about their college in prison programs during the 2018-2019 academic year.

The Understanding the Landscape of Higher Education Prison Survey (Landscape Survey) was designed as a confidential follow-up to the 2020 Annual Survey of Higher Education in Prison Programs (2020 Annual Survey), distributed by the Alliance for Higher Education in Prison. The Landscape Survey contained 93 questions designed to collect both descriptive and open-ended responses from participants about their college in prison programs during the 2018-2019 academic year.

This document provides a clear and specific summary of what the authors believe are the most essential components of high-quality in-prison higher education programs that uphold a commitment to equity, excellence, and access.

In December 2017, Lumina Foundation provided support to the Prison University Project (PUP) and the Alliance for Higher Education in Prison (the Alliance) to reflect upon and document the key characteristics of high-quality prison higher education programs, and to inform other stakeholders in the field, including new and experienced practitioners seeking to achieve equity and excellence in their work, policy leaders, philanthropists, and others. The main practical goal of this report is to provide a summary of what the authors believe are the most essential components of a high-quality in-prison higher education program.

In this brief report, the authors provide a descriptive overview of the landscape of higher education in prison during the 2018-2019 academic year. Data for this report are drawn from two sources: responses to the 2020 Annual Survey of Higher Education in Prison Programs (n = 131) and data compiled by the Research Collaborative on Higher Education in Prison for known programs that did not complete the Annual Survey (n = 169).

In this report, the authors provide a descriptive overview of the landscape of higher education in prison during the 2019-2020 academic year, prior to the start of the COVID-19 pandemic (July 1, 2019–March 1, 2020). To the authors' knowledge, the data presented here are the best available information about the state of higher education in prison programming prior to the disruptive effect of the pandemic. Data for this report are drawn from responses to the 2021 Annual Survey of Higher Education in Prison Programs (n = 168), which were compiled with known program information from the National Directory of Higher Education in Prison Programs (n = 204).

In this report, the authors provide a descriptive overview of the landscape of higher education in prison during the 2020-2021 academic year (July 1, 2020 through June 30, 2021), based on the responses of known higher education in prison program staff (N=406) to the 2022 Annual Survey of Higher Education in Prison Programs. To the authors' knowledge, the data presented here are the best available information about the state of higher education in prison programming for the 2020-2021 academic year. Data for this report are drawn from responses to the 2022 Annual Survey of Higher Education in Prison Programs (n=172), which were compiled with existing program data in the National Directory of Higher Education in Prison Programs (n=234). The 2022 Annual Survey of Higher Education in Prison Programs was launched in May 2022 and closed in August 2022. The Annual Survey was distributed to all known higher education in prison programs, as well as made publicly available on multiple platforms.

This brief report outlines the potential impacts of Pell restoration on the field of higher education in prison. Using original qualitative data from interviews with 12 higher education in prison programs and quantitative data from a national survey of college programs in prison, the analysis focuses on persistent funding challenges that the Pell Grant alone cannot address. Specifically, it highlights three distinct and pressing challenges for the field of higher education in light of Pell restoration, related to: 1. access to funding other than FAFSA, including college/university specific scholarships; 2. administrative sustainability and funding, and key stakeholder alignment on program vision and offerings; and 3. access to student support services. Ultimately, it argues that the effects of Pell reinstatement on access to higher education will depend on whether it is accompanied by investments in a broader range of institutional infrastructures and resources. The report concludes with recommendations for adequately and responsibly supporting the growth and quality of higher education in prison programs.

This report offers information about the effects of the COVID-19 crisis on higher education in prison programs. The data used for this report come from two sources: 1) the 2020 Annual Survey of Higher Education in Prison Programs, and 2) the Understanding the Landscape of Higher Education in Prison Programs Survey. These findings are part of an ongoing time-series data collection process that will continue through semi-annual surveys distributed to higher education in prison programs through the United States.

The Understanding the Landscape of Higher Education Prison Survey (Landscape Survey) was designed as a confidential follow-up to the 2020 Annual Survey of Higher Education in Prison Programs (2020 Annual Survey), distributed by the Alliance for Higher Education in Prison. The Landscape Survey contained 93 questions designed to collect both descriptive and open-ended responses from participants about their college-in-prison programs during the 2018/2019 academic year.