California Gov. Gavin Newsom cuts the ribbon on the new San Quentin Learning Center.
“Three years ago,” Newsom said during the February 20 ribbon-cutting ceremony, “I stood here and promised to turn this symbol of the old system into the crown jewel of a new one. Today, with the opening of the Learning Center, we are proving that rehabilitation and public safety go hand in hand — and that hope is a powerful tool for safer communities.”
But the expansion of bachelor’s degree access inside San Quentin may prove even more consequential than the symbolism — the move builds on California’s long-established role as a national leader in prison education
Under the new initiative, Cal State LA’s Prison Graduation Initiative (PGI) will enroll 35 incarcerated students in a bachelor of arts in applied and professional humanities program in the fall of 2026. The courses will be housed inside an 81,000-square-foot Learning Center — built in just 18 months at a cost of $239 million — that includes classrooms, a re-entry hub, expanded library space, media studios, and outdoor learning areas overlooking the San Francisco Bay.
“The space is mind-blowing,” said Dr. Bidhan Roy, PGI’s director, in a statement. “PGI has its own classroom dedicated to our programming and it’s wired with modern technology. It’s an unbelievable space.”
The bachelor of arts in applied and professional humanities program is “a career-focused program that combines the breadth of the liberal arts with applied, real-world professional training ... [in a program] designed to help students build in-demand workforce skills … civic engagement, ethical reasoning, and community well-being,” the Cal State LA statement said.
“The curriculum is very career-focused,” said Roy. “The students obviously want a degree, but they also want to know how the courses can lead to their next steps in life, how they can connect them to their careers.
