Higher Education in Prison

Empowering Change

The mission of Portland State University’s Higher Education in Prison (HEP) program is to expand rigorous, quality higher education at Coffee Creek Correctional Facility and to support justice-impacted students post-release. Because of its institutional commitment to equity and strategic urban location, Portland State University is uniquely positioned to create and strengthen educational opportunities that support incarcerated and reentering students, and to create pathways to degree completion. 

Our Program

The HEP program allows students to work towards a degree while experiencing incarceration and to be able to quickly and easily matriculate to the PSU campus upon release, while receiving the supports needed to be successful. The plan is to continue to develop a degree pathway for women, trans-identified and gender non-conforming adults in custody (AICs). This will be the first higher education degree pathway for incarcerated women in this state. This partnership reflects the experiences and collective voices of incarcerated students themselves, through the involvement and support of Rubicon GPS, comprising more than a dozen people in custody at Coffee Creek who formed this group to advocate for access to educational opportunities while serving their sentences.

Student Resources 

PSU Rebound Peer Support Specialists

PSU Rebound recognizes that students returning to higher education after incarceration need dedicated resources on campus to help them transition to and successfully navigate college. Our mission is to provide a framework of support for formerly incarcerated scholars. 

PSU Rebound Peer Support Specialists are now available to connect with prospective and current students returning to education after experiencing incarceration. We help students and prospective students with admission to PSU, accessing legal services, counseling, tutoring, computer literacy, mentorship, employment, housing, transportation and food security.

Rebound
Email: PSURebound@pdx.edu
Phone: 503-725-6127
Location: Rebound Hub, Cramer Hall 169

More News:

• The Faculty Experience with Incarcerated Students - The Chronicle of Higher Education, Oct. 4, 2023
• Searching for Justice: Licensing hurts job prospects of those with criminal records - PBS, Sept. 20, 2023
• Higher Education in Prison program receives $2.3M grant to expand opportunities for incarcerated students - PSU, Aug. 9, 2023
• Federal Pell Grants expand college classes, federal aid for inmates in Oregon, nationwide - The Oregonian, July 1, 2023
• Colleges Can Do More Than Educate Incarcerated People. They Can Hire Them. - RealClearEducation, May 4, 2023
• National grant funds 6 new courses for Higher Education in Prison program - PSU, Jan. 10, 2023
• Higher Education in Prison program prepares a pathway for more students - PSU, Nov. 28, 2022
• The Sentencing Project: Incarcerated Women and Girls - May 12, 2022
• PSU brings college classes to Oregon’s women’s prison - OPB Think Out Loud, March 14, 2022
• PSU program invests in incarcerated people with higher education - KGW, March 14, 2022
• College Behind Bars: A Panel Discussion - KBOO, Feb. 28, 2022
• Federal grants restored for incarcerated students - OPB, Jan. 14, 2021
• Empowering Change: PSU is charting new pathways to education for incarcerated students - PSU, Oct. 12, 2020
• New PSU program for incarcerated women confronts pandemic in first year - OPB, June 3, 2020
• Portland State launches pathway toward a college degree for women serving time at Coffee Creek prison - PSU, Sept. 16, 2019
• Reversing the pipeline: Program offers formerly and currently incarcerated people a future at PSU - PSU Vanguard, May 10, 2018

Our Supporters

• Kittsie and Charlie Thomas Family Foundation
• Seattle Foundation
• Spirit Mountain Community Fund
• The Sunshine Lady Foundation, Inc.
• Jobs for the Future (JFF)
• Robert D. and Marcia H. Randall Charitable Trust