Plot Synopsis

Executive produced by Ken Burns and directed and produced by Lynn Novic, COLLEGE BEHIND BARS is a four-part documentary series that reveals the transformative power of higher education through the experiences of incarcerated men and women. The four-hour series, distilled from nearly 400 hours of cinema-verite footage, explores the lives of a dozen incarcerated men and women as they struggle to earn degrees in the Bard Prison Initiative (BPI), one of the most rigorous and effective prison education programs in the country.

In this era of mass incarceration, America is the world's largest jailer, with more than 2 million men and women behind bars; 630,000 are released annually, and nearly 50 percent end up back in prison within five years, trapped in a cycle of imprisonment, release and re-incarceration. As one BPI student says on camera, "Prison is to punish. It's not about creating productive beings. Individuals are not being prepared for anything other than what they've already been doing -- crime."

Once commonplace in American prisons, higher education declined precipitously after 1994, when Congress ended federal Pell Grants for inmates as part of the Clinton Crime Bill. For more than two decades, as "tough on crime" policies made America the world's leading jailer, there was almost no federal or state funding for college in prison, despite its proven efficacy in preventing recidivism. In the nearly 20 years since BPI began, more than 500 alumni have been released, and fewer than four percent have gone back. The program currently enrolls 300 men and women in six prisons, and costs $6,000 per student per year, most of it privately funded.

The four-parter shows BPI students -- most of whom did not finish high school -- being held to the same high academic and intellectual standards as the undergraduates at Bard, a private liberal arts college in upstate New York. In classrooms, their cells, the library and the yard, they wrestle with difficult texts, analyze complex data and, over time, master a wide range of disciplines. Throughout the series, the filmmakers also follow the ups and downs of BPI's Debate Union, which lost to a visiting team from West Point in the first year of filming, and six months later, beat a team from Harvard, creating a media sensation that went viral. For many of the students featured in the film, the culmination of their education is the year-long Senior Project. To complete the bachelor's degree, they conduct original research and produce a final paper of 80 to 100 pages.

COLLEGE BEHIND BARS is not a story of non-violent drug offenders, false conviction or exoneration, unlike many recent documentary films about the criminal justice system. All of the BPI students featured in the film are serving time for serious, often violent offenses. In wrenching, deeply personal interviews, they describe their childhoods and family backgrounds, reveal why they are incarcerated, express profound remorse, as well as hope for redemption and their worries about what life will bring after release from prison.

Burns said, "Lynn has provided us with a transformative story about the power of education and how it can change lives and also benefit society at large. Programs like the Bard Prison Initiative are sorely lacking in our criminal justice system. COLLEGE BEHIND BARS could not be coming out at a more perfect time."

COLLEGE BEHIND BARS premiered on two consecutive nights with back-to-back episodes:

"Part 1: No One Ever Taught Me Any of That" (Monday, November 25, 2019 at 9pm): Incarcerated men and women in New York State are admitted to the Bard Prison Initiative (BPI), one of the most rigorous college programs in America. As they begin their studies at Eastern and Taconic Correctional facilities, they discover that they will be held to the same high standards as Bard College students on the main campus in Annandale-on-Hudson. Jule, who earned his BA in German Studies in 2012, comes to terms with the crime that led to his incarceration and finally faces the parole board after twenty-one and a half years behind bars.

"Part 2: I'm Trying to Get Home to My Family, Too" (Monday, November 25, 2019 at 10pm): Sebastian, Dyjuan and Tamara reflect on the difficult circumstances of their childhood, while the debate team prepares to face the University of Vermont. Shawnta, Tamika and Tamara make great strides academically, only to discover that BPI keeps raising the bar. Brian and Rodney are accused of breaking prison rules and sent to the solitary housing unit, SHU, their education in serious jeopardy. Meanwhile, Jule returns home.

"Part 3: Every Single Word Matters" (Tuesday, November 26, 2019 at 9pm): The debate union faces their rival across the river, West Point. Rodney, Sebastian and Giovannie embark on year-long senior projects. Newly released from federal prison, Dyjuan's younger brother, Kanan, comes for a visit, as does Rodney's sister, Elitha. Tamara receives devastating news from home, and Shawnta reckons with her own path to prison. In New York City, Jule struggles to find work.

"Part 4: Home Is a Work in Progress" (Tuesday, November 26, 2019 at 10pm): The debate union faces Harvard. While Rodney and Sebastian complete their 100-page senior projects and present them to faculty, Giovannie gets into trouble and is sent to SHU, not able to complete his project before being released. At graduation at Taconic, Tamara, Tamika and Shawnta receive associate degrees, while at Eastern, Rodney and Sebastian receive bachelor's degrees.