College Behind Bars: Story, Cast and Series Facts

Story and premise

Shot over four years in maximum and medium security prisons in New York State, the four-hour film takes viewers on a stark and intimate journey into one of the most pressing issues of our time – our failure to provide meaningful rehabilitation for the over two million Americans living behind bars. Through the personal stories of the students and their families, the film reveals the transformative power of higher education and puts a human face on America's criminal justice crisis. It raises questions we urgently need to address: What is prison for? Who has access to educational opportunity? Who among us is capable of academic excellence? How can we have justice without redemption?

Series details

• Title: College Behind Bars
• Format: Documentary
• Language: English
• Genres: Drama
• Premiere date: 2019-11-25
• Final broadcast date listed: 2019-11-26
• Status in TVmaze: Ended
• Network listed by TVmaze: PBS
• Network country: United States
• Typical episode runtime: 60 minutes
• TVMaze ID: 45193
• IMDb ID: tt9780458
• TVDB ID: 369560

Seasons in the TVmaze catalogue

• Season 1: premiered 2019-11-25; final listed air date 2019-11-26; episode order: 4.

Source and licence

Adapted from College Behind Bars on TVmaze. The synopsis is reproduced as plain text; catalogue facts, cast and season records are selected and reformatted. This adapted text is available under CC BY-SA 4.0, following the TVmaze API licence. Network and web-channel credits identify the service listed in this source; they do not establish current streaming availability.