Inside a completely free program at Bard Microcollege
NEW YORK -- Delano Burrowes tried to go to college a few times over the course of his life.
"I had a long history of drug addiction and a complicated relationship to education," he said recently.
Now, he's a published writer pursuing a bachelor's degree at Columbia University.
"I think so many more people than we know feel like they're left out of traditional college experience," he said.
In 2021, he got his associate's degree at Bard Microcollege and now works there as a tutor. The program is an expansion of the Bard Prison Initiative which serves incarcerated students.
"A free miniature campus of Bard College, in the community, in a place where people can access it, who want to go to college, who want to do the kind of college that we do, which is liberal arts college, small, intense seminar style classes," says Madeleine George, Director of Admissions.
Classes are held at the Brooklyn Public Library's central location in Park Slope.
"We are the only public library, that we know of, in the country, where you can earn a college degree," says library spokesperson Fritzi Bodenheimer.
Students come from all walks of life. Some are formerly incarcerated, some are older, and some dropped out of college and are now chasing a second chance at higher education.
"I always wanted to go back to school. I always loved school and learning, but I just didn't know what I wanted to do," explains student Anastasia Neree. She is set to graduate this spring and dreams of working as an urban planner in Haiti.
"I don't know what I would be doing honestly with my life right now. Probably working a job that I wasn't committed to," she says.
Tuition, books and supplies are all completely free for students. Many of them go on to get their bachelor's at a four year college.
"That's the most obvious barrier to access to college is the tuition bill. So right off the bat, we take it off the table," George explains.
Burrowes says he will always remember what his mom said at his graduation.
"You look so happy on that stage. And it was, it was one of the happiest days of my life," he recalls.
Now, he hopes to get a master's degree and write a memoir.
The deadline for applications for the fall is April 15th. You have to be at least 17 years old, and have a high school diploma or GED.
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