The College Program
Our program
We are education volunteers.
We help students work toward college degrees.
We encourage students to learn new things and to think in new ways.
We bring books, course supplies and respect;
We support course, certificate, and degree completion; and
We seek to renew hope for the future.
About our program
Since 1997, volunteer faculty members, university students, and community members have contributed to the life-changing educational achievements of over 1,000 incarcerated women. Because these students do not have access to online courses via computers, the volunteers facilitate students’ enrollment in traditional, paper-and-pencil, distance learning courses and meet with them in person.
Volunteers facilitate study groups for enrolled students; conduct study halls for one-on-one tutoring of enrolled students; teach refresher English and math classes for those beginning and preparing for college courses; facilitate creative writing classes; and conduct financial aid workshops for individuals returning to the community.
Volunteers also provide comprehensive education support services:
- counsel new applicants
- deliver books and course materials
- proctor midterm and final examinations
- process and submit weekly course assignments
- print and deliver grade book updates and final grades
- mentor and tutor students enrolled in college courses
- coordinate and submit enrollment requests
- and liaise between the incarcerated students and their instructors.
Our funding
The success of The College Program has always depended upon the financial support of individual donors and the labor of volunteers (retired and current professors and community members). The College Program is financially responsible for providing supplies to all students, paying tuition and fees for 40-50% of students, and funding a university work-study student assisting the program.
The price of supplies has increased tremendously due to inflation and, beginning this fall, there will be a 14% tuition increase at the community college district where students are enrolled.
Of major importance is the fact that, although Pell grants are slated to return to incarcerated students this fall, our students will be ineligible under U.S. Department of Education requirements because they do not have computer access for online courses and must rely on pen-and-pencil distance learning courses.
Currently the two primary scholarship funders are individual donors to the ASU College Program for Incarcerated Women and the Incarcerated Re-Entry Distance Learning Program at Rio Salado College. Scholarship funders have also included Native American nations, the Asian American and Pacific Islander Community Association of Phoenix, the ASU Emeritus College, the ASU Watts College of Public Service and Community Solutions, and the GateWay Community College Department of Communication.