The BardBac was launched in 2020 in response to the COVID-19 crisis. It is a project of the Bard Prison Initiative — Bard’s response to the crisis of mass incarceration.
A private institution in the public service, Bard College enrolls approximately 5,000 students in its global affiliates worldwide, including 2,000 undergraduates in Annandale, nearly 1,000 students in Bard high school/early colleges around the country, and over 400 students across the seven in-prison campuses operated by the Bard Prison Initiative (BPI). In all of its programs, the college seeks to provide both a demanding academic program and a supportive environment for the exchange of ideas. Bard is fervently committed to the liberal arts and to democratizing access to them; the BardBac is an embodiment of this commitment.