In this article we argue that the practice of requisite criminal/ized history disclosure in college admissions enhances carceral state power. Situating institutions of higher education as key sites through which surveillance is practiced, we traced the available evidence regarding targeted punishment in the US and the ramifications of a criminal record. We contend that this admissions practice constitutes a renewed form of racial exclusion and positions institutions of higher education as directly complicit in the US carceral state. It is only through carcerality that requiring criminal/ized history in college admissions can be seen as a rational practice.