Mission & Goals

Mission

UCI-LIFTED creates a pathway for incarcerated individuals to earn UCI bachelor’s degrees, building resilient communities of scholars within prison walls, inspiring our graduates to become changemakers, and proving that education thrives anywhere minds are ready to grow.

Goals

UCI-LIFTED, Leveraging Inspiring Futures Through Educational Degrees, is the first in-prison bachelor’s degree completion program in the University of California system. LIFTED creates a pathway for incarcerated individuals to apply to transfer into UCI as juniors and earn a bachelor’s degree from UCI while serving their sentence. LIFTED is guided by the following overarching goals:

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Provide individualized support for enrolled students to redress the impact of educational inequalities and to allow students to grow as thinkers and scholars

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Offer enrolled students the chance to take courses across a diverse range of fields and disciplines

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Help students create a vibrant, resilient educational community and peer-support systems within carceral institutions

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Provide opportunities for students to engage in research and scholarship, including the production of knowledge for the public good

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Fulfill the promise of the California Master Plan for higher education by expanding access and ensuring excellence

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Contribute to improving educational opportunities for students statewide by facilitating: smoother transfer pathways into bachelor’s degree programs, faculty training on supporting non-traditional student populations, and public investments in expanded economically beneficial educational opportunities in and out of prison