About Project Rebound
We are committed to meeting the needs of students who often face a wide array of challenges that have caused them to be left behind.
We strive to provide each student with the individualized support that they need to succeed. We also act as a liaison with services and programs on and off-campus and advocate for people on campus and in the community. Our work is dedicated to lifting up individuals and communities. After all, college grads contribute to increase community strength and safety!
A successful university education leads to enhanced self-efficacy, civic engagement, and social and global awareness; it enlarges the moral imagination and instills skills and habits that assist people in securing gainful employment and living meaningful, responsible lives. Project Rebound constructs an alternative to the revolving door policy of mass incarceration by making higher education more accessible and supporting formerly incarcerated students to excel in a course of study.
In 1952, John Irwin (1929-2010) robbed a gas station and served a five-year prison term for armed robbery in Soledad Prison. During his time in prison he earned 24 college credits through a university extension program. After his release from prison, Irwin earned a B.A. from UCLA, a Ph.D. from UC Berkeley, and then served as a Professor of Sociology and Criminology at San Francisco State University for 27 years, during which he became known internationally as an expert on the U.S. prison system.
In 1967, Irwin created Project Rebound as a way to matriculate people into San Francisco State University directly from the criminal justice system. Since the program’s inception, hundreds of formerly incarcerated people have obtained bachelor’s degrees and beyond.
In 2016, with the support of the Opportunity Institute and the CSU Chancellor Timothy White, Project Rebound expanded beyond San Francisco State into a consortium of nine CSU campus programs. The CSU Project Rebound Consortium is now a state- and grant-funded network of programs operating at CSU campuses in Bakersfield, Fresno, Fullerton, Los Angeles, Pomona, Sacramento, San Bernardino, San Diego[BROKEN LINK], and San Francisco. Since 2016, Project Rebound students system-wide have earned an overall grade point average of 3.0, have a zero percent recidivism rate, and 87% of graduates have secured full-time employment or admission to postgraduate programs.
