San Quentin’s Cal State LA degree cohort has 34 students
By Staff Writer · Published 10/23/2026, 4:10:35 AM ET
The 21-month Liberal Studies program adds university instruction inside the prison. Earlier university plans anticipated a spring 2028 graduation; the latest announcement reports enrollment, not graduate outcomes.
Cal State LA’s first bachelor’s cohort at San Quentin Rehabilitation Center has 34 incarcerated students, the governor’s office reported October 22. Their Liberal Studies coursework runs for 21 months, with instruction based in the prison’s new Learning Center.
The announcement provides an enrollment update on a program the university outlined earlier this year. In March, Cal State LA said classes would start in August and projected that the first cohort would graduate in spring 2028. That was a planned timetable; the governor’s October statement does not announce any degrees awarded to this group.
Cal State LA’s earlier account anticipated 35 students, compared with the 34 reported by the governor’s office this week. Neither publication explains the difference. The October figure is the newer count, while the March account remains useful for understanding the program’s design and the university partnerships behind it.
The university described the degree as its Applied and Professional Humanities option in Liberal Studies, combining humanities study with preparation for work. It said Cal State East Bay and San Francisco State would help provide instruction, with Cal State LA’s Prison Graduation Initiative preparing faculty from the two Bay Area campuses.
San Quentin became the fourth prison location for that initiative, according to the university’s March account. The program began at the Lancaster prison in 2016 and subsequently expanded to the California Institution for Men and California Institution for Women in Chino. The San Quentin cohort extends an existing university program to another institution. Cal State LA described its prison courses as an in-person bachelor’s completion program. Its March account said most of the planned San Quentin students already lived at the prison.
The Learning Center accommodates education beyond this bachelor’s cohort. The governor’s office reports that it serves 432 students in basic and secondary adult education and 495 college students. Its facilities include classrooms, a library, areas for technology and media work, and outdoor gathering spaces. Those enrollment figures describe the center’s broader activity, rather than the size of the new degree group.
Across the state corrections system, bachelor’s programs operate at 12 institutions through California State University and University of California partnerships, the governor’s office says. Community college instruction is also available through classroom teaching, distance learning or correspondence. The state says students do not pay for its associate and bachelor’s degree programs.
Newsom, Corrections Secretary Jeff Macomber and Cal State LA President Berenecea Johnson Eanes presented the expansion as preparation for life after prison. Their statements describe the intended benefits of education and rehabilitation. The October announcement provides no employment or later-conviction results for the San Quentin students now pursuing these degrees.
The release also cites statewide rehabilitation findings and falling crime rates. Those figures concern other populations and periods; they are not an evaluation of this cohort. CDCR’s separate August 4 explanation says its recidivism reporting follows people for three years after release, using convictions as the principal measure and arrests and returns to prison as additional measures.
For prospective participants and their families, the October announcement confirms an operating cohort but supplies no application deadline, complete admissions requirements or timetable for a second intake. The university’s March description said some qualifying students would transfer from other prisons. It does not establish that every incarcerated person can enter the San Quentin program.
What it means
Cal State LA’s first San Quentin cohort gives 34 incarcerated students access to a 21-month Liberal Studies degree program within the prison’s Learning Center. The governor’s October 22 announcement confirms participation and describes education offered across the corrections system; the university’s earlier plan put graduation in spring 2028. Completion, employment and post-release results for this cohort remain unreported.
Source
This State & Nation summary is based on California Governor’s Office’s original release, dated 2026-10-22. The reporting and statistics above are attributed to that publication.