ANNDALE-ON-HUDSON >> The Bard Prison Initiative has been awarded a $1 million grant from the Ford Foundation to support its work for higher education in prisons and innovations in criminal justice reform, the program has announced.
The two-year grant will allow the Bard Prison Initiative to expand its core operations, including support for national replication efforts, advocacy work and re-entry programs. During the past two years, the Ford Foundation has become a “stalwart partner and supporter” of the program’s efforts.
In addition to enrolling 300 incarcerated students full-time in Bard College, the initiative is home to the Consortium for the Liberal Arts in Prison and has been a leader in developing and advocating for the restoration of education in prison for 15 years.
In New York, incarcerated students enroll in programs that culminate in associate and bachelor’s degrees in the liberal arts.
