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MISSION

The Prison Teaching Initiative (PTI) aims to reduce incarceration rates in New Jersey by increasing access to post-secondary education in state prisons. PTI is committed to providing both rigorous coursework and academic support to all of our students, and to continually improving our ability help students reach their academic and professional potential. Central to PTI's mission is providing the full range of coursework required to an obtain an Associate of Arts Degree.

WHO WE ARE

PTI is an all-volunteer organization based at Princeton University. We operate under the Dean of the College and within the Program in Teacher Preparation. We are governed by a Leadership Committee of senior instructors and supported by a part-time administrative coordinator. We are a founding member of NJ-STEP, New Jersey's statewide prison education consortium. The PTI faculty is made up of Princeton PhD students, postdocs, and faculty, as well as teachers and scholars from across New Jersey. Each PTI course is headed by an instructor with a Masters or PhD, and the PTI Executive Committee hires, trains, and mentors new faculty.

WHAT WE DO

We teach courses in math, natural sciences, humanities, and social sciences. Courses are developed by PTI instructors, accredited through Mercer County Community College, and lead to an Associate of Arts degree. Credits earned can be transferred to any community college or public four-year college in the state. 

We generally teach 30-35 classes per year in multiple prisons. We offer a three-course sequence in English composition and a three-course sequence in the fundamentals of mathematics. In addition we teach general education courses in a wide range of subjects, including Arabic, Latin, religion, sociology, biology, ecology, philosophy, and astronomy.

 

Learn more about our academics, our history and our collaborators.

PTI BY THE NUMBERS

  • PTI has served over 700 students since its founding in 2006.

 

  • Our 75+ instructors teach 200-300 students per semester.

 

  • Over the years we have served students in 5 state prisons: Garden State Youth Correctional Facility, Albert C. Wagner Youth Correctional Facility, Edna Mahan Women’s Correctional Facility, Northern State Prison and East Jersey State Prison.

 

  • 40 of our former students have gone on to enroll at Rutgers University after their release. Many have graduated with honors.

 

  • Our faculty have participated in 3 Associate’s Degree graduations in the prisons, and anticipate celebrating with more than 35 students at East Jersey State Prison in the coming semester.  

"I can't begin to explain how much this program (NJ STEP) has done for me personally. Number one, it has improved my character. Being incarcerated for such a long time, I now know that education is the key to not coming back to prison. Being in the program has also kept me in a positive state of mind in a not so positive place." Current student, EJSP

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