Prison

The Rising Scholars Advisory Committee adopts the following principles to guide colleges as they exercise their local control to serve formerly incarcerated students in prison.

A Pathways in Practice is a published Chancellor’s Office document that describes how a California community college is operating as an academic institution to serve students whose education is taking place inside or after time in justice settings. Each document names the college, describes the design choices that make the practice possible, explains how a peer college can build their own version, and identifies the Vision 2030 commitment the practice advances. Each document has similar sections and formats to standardize the content and ensure practitioners walk away to what they need to implement a practice in their campus. This document explains each section and provides an overview of what readers can expect.

Workforce readiness is a central priority in Vision 2030 and is particularly important for the Rising Scholars student population. Students held or supervised across the High Desert region were pursuing workforce-relevant education and a credible path to employment that the local landscape did not yet make available to them. Adults at the Federal Correctional Complex in Victorville, women approved for furlough, youth in the county detention facility, and people on parole and probation were reaching for credentials they could carry directly into the labor market and for a first authentic encounter with college. Victor Valley College treated that pursuit as an academic obligation and designed CTE infrastructure that reaches students where they are held or supervised, rather than waiting for them to arrive on a traditional campus.

This project is from the National Association of Higher Education Systems (NASH), in partnership with the State University of New York’s Office of Higher Education in Prison (SUNY OHEP). NASH and SUNY OHEP wish to thank the Ascendium Education Group for generously funding this research. The authors gratefully acknowledge the students, administrators, and system-level leaders who participated in this study. Their willingness to share their experiences was essential to this work. All participants remain anonymous throughout this report. This study was approved by the SUNY Institutional Review Board, #STUDY00006202.

The California Community Colleges is committed to providing textbooks and digital course content to students in correctional facilities. The Rising Scholars Textbook and Digital Course Content Initiative (TDCC) is a program designed to provide free textbooks and digital course content to support students in correctional institutions. This document provides an overview of the program and resources to get Colleges started.

The guide is designed to support students as they learn how to navigate their CDCR laptop and Canvas course.

Memorandum of Understanding between CDCR and local community colleges providing face-to-face instruction.

Download the contact list for Project Rebound programs at California State Universities. This list was last updated on June 2026.

Free interactive toolkit created by Bank of America in partnership with Kahn Academy to help student save money and manage finances.

This memorandum provides information regarding available funds for colleges teaching students that are currently incarcerated in state prisons. A total of $3 million is available to colleges to provide textbooks or digital course content to students under the jurisdiction of the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) who are enrolled in one or more California community college course.