Is College for Me?

  • Made By CUP With:
  • Community Partners
  • Tags:
  • Education,
  • Court System

Connecting formerly incarcerated New Yorkers with the information they need to pursue a college education.

Community members reviewed a draft of the project.

Deciding to pursue higher education can be a difficult choice for anyone, particularly for people who have been involved with the criminal justice system. It’s increasingly important that everyone has the same access to education because it can help transform people’s lives, especially after they’ve been away, by helping them reenter their communities. While there are options for incarcerated and recently incarcerated people to access to higher education, the process can be uninviting and complicated–with very few resources explaining it and a lot of misinformation.

CUP collaborated with the Prisoner Reentry Institute and designer Miles Barretto to create Is College For Me?, a pocket-sized foldout that demystifies and breaks down the process of enrolling in college. The colorful foldout explains the various types of degrees, types of schools, and resources. It also breaks down the steps one can take both while in still in prison and after coming home.

Is College For Me? will launch at a back-to-school workshop for new and returning students enrolled in PRI’s Educational Initiatives program. PRI is distributing over 3,000 copies to its community members and network of partners in prisons across New York State.

A student provided feedback on colors and illustration styles in the early stages of the project.
At the the first meeting, the CUP staff members Oscar and Nick learned all about the issue in a detailed presentation by PRI.

Check out the Project

Is College for Me? unfolds to explain how to apply for college and the options available for formerly incarcerated people.

Buy a Copy $5

Click here to buy

Download a Free Copy

Click here to download

Project Collaborators

Advocacy Partner

Prisoner Reentry Institute

Carlos Quintana
Bianca van Heydoorn
Shameeka Mattis


Special Thanks

Christine Gaspar, Ingrid Haftel, Frampton Tolbert, Silviano Christman, Leslie, Richard Thomas, Kenneth Rivera, Alex Noes, Emmerson Bastien, Jason Glass, Jonathan Molina, Manuel Nuñez, and all others that provided feedback on the project.

Product Details

3.125″ × 4.25″, unfolds to 11.5″ × 21″

Funding Support

Support for this project was provided by The Shelley & Donald Rubin Foundation and public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council and Council Members Board Lander, Carlos Menchaca, and Antonio Reynoso.