For years, incarcerated people in California’s state prisons have been able to earn associate degrees. But a movement to award bachelor’s degrees is rapidly expanding. 

Inside the first women’s program at the Central California Women’s Facility in Chowchilla, incarcerated women are doing just that: rebuilding their lives through higher education. Two professors, along with both incarcerated and formerly incarcerated students explain the power of education behind bars in this podcast.

 

For most high school students, applying to college is an anxiety-filled game of wait-and-see that starts after they send off applications and may well end in rejection. But it’s also a game of resources, one that rich, well-connected families are primed to win. Parents with lower incomes don’t have the means for SAT tutors, application coaches, and visits to multiple schools in far-flung states. 

That may be changing, courtesy of an emerging national trend known as “direct admission”—a low-cost alternative that could revolutionize the way students of lesser means apply to college.