University of North Texas 
UNT Inside-Out Prison Exchange® Program
The UNT Inside-Out Prison Exchange® Program brings together students from the University of North Texas and residents of the Bridgeport Correctional Center in a shared, semester-long, credit-bearing learning experience. Through dialogue and collaborative learning, participants exchange ideas and perspectives on crime, corrections, and the criminal legal system while engaging as academic peers. By combining theoretical knowledge with lived experience, the course fosters a deeper understanding of the criminal legal system, challenges assumptions, and promotes critical thinking, communication, and mutual respect. Residents who successfully complete the course earn University of North Texas college credit, creating a pathway to continue their higher education after release.
- Offered each Fall semester through the Department of Criminal Justice, with approximately 15–18 UNT students enrolled each year.
- Classes meet once a week at the Bridgeport Correctional Center in Bridgeport, Texas.
- The program follows the internationally recognized Inside-Out Prison Exchange® model, which emphasizes dialogue, collaborative learning, and shared inquiry between incarcerated and campus-based students.
- Current course offerings include an upper-division Criminal Justice elective and an English course that fulfills the Texas Core Curriculum requirement in Language, Philosophy, and Culture.
Since launching in 2022, UNT’s Inside-Out Prison Exchange Program® has expanded opportunities for meaningful, credit-bearing learning across campus and within correctional settings. The program has offered six courses in Criminal Justice and English, bringing together more than 100 participants, inside and out.
About the Inside-Out Prison Exchange Model
Founded at Temple University, the Inside-Out Prison Exchange Program® is an internationally recognized educational model that brings university students and incarcerated students together for semester-long, college-level courses. Rather than treating incarceration as a topic to be studied from a distance, the model creates a structured classroom community in which participants engage directly with complex questions about crime, justice, responsibility, and social change.
Get Involved
- UNT Students
- Please see the program application which opens every Spring semester for the Criminal Justice Course, and every Fall semester for the English course.
- Faculty
- We are actively looking for faculty to teach additional courses. Interested? Please contact Dr. Zettler.
- Community Partners
- We are actively looking for more correctional settings to provide Inside-Out courses. If you are interested in establishing an Inside-Out program in your facility, please contact Dr. Zettler
- Support the Program
For questions or more information, contact Dr. Haley Zettler, Associate Professor.
Inside-Out Facilitators
Inside-Out Academic Counselors
Student Eligibility
- Junior/Senior standing during the semester enrolled in the course. Open to all majors, with preference given to those with career plans working with system-impacted populations.
- Good academic standing, with a recommended GPA of 3.0 or higher.
- Completion of a course application (open 2-weeks prior to Fall registration).
- Completion of an interview with the course instructor.
- Must have transportation to the facility.
- Ability to pass a background check, volunteer application, and volunteer training with the Texas Department of Criminal Justice no later than 60 days prior to the course start date.
How To Apply
The UNT Inside-Out Program Application is now closed. Please check back in February when the application reopens. If you have questions please contact Dr. Haley Zettler.
Inside-Out Think Tank: Restoration and Reentry Alliance (RRA)
The Restoration and Reentry Alliance, our program’s Inside-Out Think Tank, was founded by program graduated in 2024. The RRA, serves as an advisory board for restorative justice and reentry initiatives on the unit. The RRA have hosted workshops with UNT on workforce development, entrepreneurship, college admissions, and reentry. Additionally, Inside-Out has inspired several former UNT students to work for TDCJ and other correctional facilities, providing a career pathway for campus learners to connect the education from this unique experience and transition it to applied practice.
Follow our Think Tank on Instagram: @untreentryalliance
Testimonials
Inside-Out was a transformative experience that enabled me to get outside of myself, my comfort zone, and my worldview to learn from others' experience. I loved that discussions were central to our meetings and the way conversations flowed after. This program was definitely the highlight of my undergraduate experience and the reason I continue to stay involved.
As a result of my participation in Inside Out and the Think Tank, my clinical orientation is much more re-entry focused with an emphasis in rehabilitation, holistic treatment, and community involvement. It has given me a unique perspective as I continue to work with the justice-impacted population that I am sincerely and deeply grateful for.
One of the best tools in this class is the interaction with the students that come and attend class with us that are incarcerated. The point of views from the outside students honestly helps with us on the inside, to focus on things of how society is functioning. As for myself, it shows that I can still be part of higher learning and not be a product of the chaotic environment I live in. This program has given me ways to further my education, and a chance to give back to my community once I have served my time.
The Inside-Out program has expanded my ability to create transformational educational opportunities. As students analyzed literary texts and collaborated in group projects, I watched as their worlds expanded in new and compelling ways. It has been one of the most joyful and powerful teaching experiences of my career.
By the end of the semester, I witness the guys stand a little taller, speak with more confidence and trust in their ability to have a different future. This transformation is quiet yet powerful, which is why my involvement in this program matters so much to me, it reminds us all that growth is real, hope is contagious and change can happen even in the darkest of places.
In The News
Physical/Shipping Address
UNT College of Public Affairs and Health Sciences
Chilton Hall, Suite 265
410 S. Avenue C
Denton, TX 76201
Mailing Address
UNT College of Public Affairs and Health Sciences
1155 Union Circle #305130
Denton, TX 76203
940-565-2562
