San Quentin Rehabilitation Center in Marin County now has its first bachelor's degree program. Thirty-four incarcerated students have started a Liberal Studies degree from Cal State Los Angeles, Gov. Gavin Newsom's office announced.
Why it matters: State corrections leaders say higher education is one of the strongest predictors of successful reentry. Most people in prison eventually return to their communities.
How the program works
The program runs 21 months. Cal State LA trained faculty from Cal State East Bay and San Francisco State to teach the students, and classes began in August, a Cal State LA spokesperson told SFGATE.
San Quentin already offers other college classes, including an associate's degree through Mount Tamalpais College. A spokesperson for the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation confirmed to SFGATE that this is the prison's first bachelor's program.
A new campus inside the walls
Classes are held in the new San Quentin Learning Center, an 80,000-square-foot, $239 million campus that opened earlier this year, SFGATE reported. It has three buildings: a technology center with podcast studios, an education hub with classrooms and a library, and a community workspace with a cafe and views of San Francisco Bay.
"A lot of them, it was the first time ... in 20 or 30 years they've seen the water," Josh Henderson, supervisor of correctional education programs, told KTVU, as quoted by SFGATE.
By the numbers
According to Newsom's office, 432 people at San Quentin are enrolled in adult education classes and 495 in college classes. Statewide, bachelor's degree programs now operate at 12 prisons through partnerships with the CSU and UC systems, the governor's office said.
UC Berkeley has also proposed a bachelor's program at San Quentin, but it is not expected to launch until 2028, according to SFGATE.