Helping Your Loved One Take the Next Step
If you have a family member or close friend incarcerated in a southeast Nebraska facility, college may be available to them. Here's how it works, and how you can help.
Most people don't know higher education exists inside Nebraska prisons. Most families never hear about it from anyone official. We want to change that, because nothing predicts how someone does after release more reliably than what they were doing inside.
How to help your loved one connect
UPWARD is currently available at the Nebraska State Penitentiary, the Reception and Treatment Center, Community Corrections Center–Lincoln, the Center for People, and the Nebraska Correctional Center for Women in York.
UPWARD enrollment runs through the facility, not through SCC's general admissions process.
If you have questions or aren't sure what to ask, our Educational Navigators can help. Contact UPWARD
What your loved one will experience
Classes meet twice weekly for three hours, taught by SCC faculty on-site at the facility. Students receive SCC laptops configured for facility security. Coursework follows the same syllabus as on-campus SCC courses. Students earn the same credentials as anyone else enrolled at SCC, and most credentials transfer to four-year universities.
Books, supplies & resources
Each correctional facility has its own rules about what can be sent in. Reach out to an Educational Navigator with questions about supporting your loved one's studies.
A note from us
Amy Doty
Dean, UPWARD"My family was on this side of the wall once. I know how hard it is to know what to do, what to say, how to help. If you are reading this and your loved one is incarcerated, please know that we are here, that we want them in our classrooms, and that the work of helping them get there is something we will do with you."
Contact an UPWARD Educational Navigator