Press Release: Purchase Professors Awarded SUNY Equity Fund Grant

For Immediate Release

Purchase College Professors Awarded SUNY Equity Fund Grant To Expand Access to Higher Education for Incarcerated Students

Purchase, NY, [January 8, 2026]: Purchase College, SUNY, is pleased to announce that Dr. Ragnhild Utheim and Dr. Lisa Jean Moore have been awarded a planning grant in the amount of $49,993 by SUNY’s Office of Higher Education in Prison (OHEP) to expand access to higher education for incarcerated students in the region.

Since 1997, Marymount Manhattan College has worked with a consortium of local colleges to offer college degrees at Bedford Hills Correctional Facility, and since 2019 at Taconic Correctional Facility. SUNY Purchase is proud to support and further this important work.

The grant will enable Drs. Utheim and Moore to develop Higher Education in Prison (HEP) programming that will provide meaningful interactions between professors and students and create accessible transfer pathways for students who face significant barriers to degree completion, including the difficulty of transferring credits between institutions and the cost of higher education.

Dr. Utheim, Director of the School of Liberal Studies, and Dr. Moore, Distinguished Professor of Sociology and Gender Studies, said, “Purchase College has a strong track record at Bedford Hills and this grant allows us to deepen that commitment as well as expand our support of college in prison to the neighboring Taconic Correctional Facility. We’re building the infrastructure to ensure incarcerated students have access to the same quality SUNY education available to all New Yorkers—with clear and affordable pathways to complete their degrees whether they’re inside prison or after release. Purchase is uniquely positioned for this work, and we’re committed to making higher education genuinely accessible to students at both facilities.”

“Access to higher education and career development is critical to increasing economic opportunity and advancing upward mobility for all New Yorkers,” SUNY Chancellor John B. King said. “SUNY is dedicated to ensuring formerly incarcerated individuals have access to the tools they need to succeed throughout their transition into their communities.”

Purchase College President Michael E. Steiper, PhD, said, “Professors Moore and Utheim are doing extraordinary work to expand access to a Purchase education in ways that are life-changing for incarcerated students. By increasing opportunities to engage in higher education and earn transferable credits at the Bedford Hills and Taconic Correctional Facilities, they are providing learning opportunities that research shows can support reentry and reduce recidivism. Programs like this reflect our responsibility to ensure that all New Yorkers benefit from the transformative education that Purchase and SUNY provide.”

About SUNY OHEP

SUNY, through OHEP, is the largest provider of higher education prison programs in New York State, with 16 campuses currently offering SUNY degrees in 24 state prisons, six juvenile facilities, and one federal facility. OHEP has also led in developing and expanding programming to assist formerly incarcerated individuals during the transition to post-release employment.

About Purchase College, SUNY

A top 10 public school, according to U.S. News & World Report, Purchase College, part of the State University of New York (SUNY) system, was founded in 1967 by Governor Nelson Rockefeller. His aspiration for Purchase was to create a dynamic campus that combined conservatory training in the visual and performing arts with programs in the liberal arts and sciences, in order to inspire an appreciation for both intellectual and artistic talents in all students. Today, Purchase College, SUNY is a community of students, faculty, and friends where open-minded engagement with the creative process leads to a lifetime of intellectual growth and professional opportunity. For more information about the college, visit www.purchase.edu.

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