Resources

In 2017, 73 California Community Colleges completed a survey on campus programs for formerly incarcerated students. Survey results are summarized here.

Please complete this form if you are formerly incarcerated and/or system impacted (family member is or was incarcerated) and you plan on applying to UC Berkeley (or any other UC) this November to transfer next year (Fall 2022). Remember that you DO NOT have to be finished with your transferrable units before applying. Underground Scholars will support you throughout the application process (personal statement, transcripts, one-on-one support, etc).

The Imperial Valley College Board of Trustees passed a resolution to waive student health fees for incarcerated students on July 19th, 2017. This is being shared as an example for other colleges.

This toolkit includes essential program elements and services, no- and low-cost strategies, and student input regarding on-campus programs for formerly incarcerated students.

Watch a panel discussion on the issues of providing college opportunities for currently and formerly incarcerated students. The panel is moderated by Larissa MacFarquhar, a staff writer at The New Yorker.

Degrees of Freedom: Expanding College Opportunities for Currently and Formerly Incarcerated Californians, by Debbie A. Mukamal, Rebecca Silbert, and Rebecca Taylor is based on over 175 interviews, academic research, and historical investigation. The report profiles existing programs and identifies recommendations for California to take to build effective college pathways that will help these underserved students become college graduates.

RAND Corporation conducted a meta-analysis to examine the association between correctional education and reductions in recidivism, improvements in employment after release from prison, and learning in math and in reading. They found that education significantly reduces recidivism.