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. Currently, the HEP program delivers a bachelor’s degree in Liberal Studies with an optional Business minor at Coffee Creek Correctional Facility. As a U.S. Department of Education-approved Prison Education Program (PEP), incarcerated students admitted to Portland State can access financial aid funding. The HEP program is the first in Oregon to develop a higher education degree pathway for incarcerated women.
In collaboration with the Black Studies Department, HEP offers a certificate in Black Studies at Oregon State Penitentiary, with working plans to develop and expand a bachelor degree program. The certificate allows students to gain credits in a structured, multi-disciplinary way, where they will learn about exciting developments and histories centered in Africa or around Black experiences, thought, and art throughout the world.
Through partnerships and various external supporters, the HEP program is committed to student success and continued program development in order to advocate for long term access to educational opportunities while experiencing incarceration and beyond.