BPI’s work is made possible by a diverse community of funders and supporters who provide critical funds enabling us to carry out our mission to defy expectations of who college is for and where it might lead.

BPI works with longstanding partnerships to spread the cost of college so that each dollar invested has an outsized impact.

Your support sustains BPI’s college-in-prison campuses, holistic Reentry & Alumni Affairs programs for people returning home, and BPI’s work in communities and institutions across the country through the Bard Microcolleges, National Engagement, and the Consortium for the Liberal Arts in Prison.

Donate Now
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$500

Laptop and IT support for a Microcollege student or BPI alum

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$1,000

Books and materials for a calculus class of 16 students

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$5,000

Support of alumni stipends for ConnectEd Workshops and Public Health & Education Fellowships

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$10,000

A year of college for a first-year student

Why Support BPI?

Your donation will help BPI continue the groundbreaking work to redefine college access in America, address the harms of mass incarceration, and reimagine the place, and future, of higher education in and beyond prisons.

BPI Alumnus meets a current BPI student.

Democratize Access to Higher Education

In this time of transformation in society and work, BPI and its suite of tuition-free programs are an example of how a liberal arts college education can prepare students, no matter where they come from, for careers and leadership. BPI redraws the boundaries of the common imagination of who deserves access and opportunity, not only to institutions of higher learning but to what comes next, to the resources and social capital that individuals might leverage to build momentum and set a trajectory aligned with personal and professional ambition.


Champion Formerly Incarcerated Leadership

Across New York and beyond, BPI alumni have been vital public voices — community leaders, activists, and professionals using their distinctive combination of experience, education, and expertise. There has never been a better moment to reimagine the place of higher education and cultivate new leadership, where formerly incarcerated people figure prominently.


Amplify National Engagement

Resources to support a national community of practitioners within college-in-prison are few and there is no one in the field, other than BPI, offering scaleable practical, strategic, and technical assistance rooted in direct practitioner experience and expertise. Now is the critical moment to invest in our community’s long-term resilience as a good that benefits the entire field.

Other Ways to Give a Gift

Making a charitable contribution to BPI is easy. Gifts can be made via check, credit card, wire transfer, stocks, or real estate.

As a program of Bard College, a registered 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, gifts are tax-deductible to the fullest extent of the law and used exclusively by BPI (EIN number 14-1713034).

Please check with your financial advisor for specific information regarding the deductibility of your gift.

BPI embroidered denim hat.

Shop BPI Gear

Show your support for BPI. All proceeds go directly toward BPI’s mission of defying expectations of who college is for and where it can lead.

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Contact Us

For more information about ways to support the Bard Prison Initiative, please contact:

Kate Cox
Director of Development
845-758-7332
kcox@bard.edu


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