What Project Would A Laptop Help You With?

The Prison-to-College Pipeline (P2CP) allows incarcerated students who have high school diplomas or G.E.D.s, and who are eligible for release within five years, to amass college credits and, when they come back to the community, complete degrees in the City University of New York system. We were founded six years ago and in 2016 were named a federal grantee, as part of President Obama’s Second Chance Pell Grant initiative.

How Would a Laptop Help You?

Our students return home with many needs, and foremost among them is a laptop.  Having a computer is a vital ingredient for college success; in this day and age, students cannot complete their college courses without one. Parole restrictions and job demands also make late-night trips to the school’s computer lab impossible.

What Do You Love About This Project?

We are providing access to higher education to a population that has generally been denied such access, due to failures of our educational system–particularly in communities of color and poor communities. Access to education is a human and civil right. Practically speaking, incarcerated people who participate in education programs have a 43% lower chance of returning to prison and are 13% more likely to be employed following their release. Most of our students give back to their communities by engaging in social service work, thus creating strong, lasting pathways to success.

Given a choice, would you prefer a Mac or PC?

Either.