USC PEP

USC Prison Education Project

The USC Dornsife Prison Education Project (PEP) creates the opportunity for USC and incarcerated students to learn from each other in a rigorous and collaborative learning environment across a variety of academic disciplines. Through PEP, USC students and faculty design, teach and participate in classes with people incarcerated in the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation system.

Above all, PEP seeks to reinforce the idea of education as a fundamental human right and to facilitate connections that transcend walls both literal and figurative.

Our Impact

COVID-19 presents a significant threat to the well-being of incarcerated folks. The USC Dornsife Prison Education Program provides direct educational services to these men and women, and it has faced significant COVID related and other programmatic challenges. However, we continue to provide remote learning options for a robust and multidisciplinary catalog of courses. USC is the largest chapter of the overall PEP organization with the most volunteer instructors, TA's, and classes.

Courses

Student volunteers will assist the lead instructor guide the session, but student volunteers can also lead one-on-one discussions, ask questions, and encourage critical thinking among students.

Learn more about our courses

Reader's Circle

The Readers' Circle is a volunteer-based proofreading and editing service that pairs currently and formerly incarcerated writers with students and faculty at the University of Southern California to receive feedback on their written work.