News
Two lifers on the role of college in prison: ‘I found a new habit. Education.’
David Luis “Suave” Gonzalez was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole when he was 17. In many states—including Pennsylvania, where Gonzalez was sentenced—there are few, if any, college […]
Fall 2022 Course Offerings
Fall classes are underway and thriving, and we’re grateful to have our students back in the classrooms. Below is a complete list of our Fall 2022 courses and their instructors. […]
Announcing the Mount Tamalpais College Alumni Scholarship
We’re pleased to introduce the Mount Tamalpais College Alumni Scholarship Program! This program will provide scholarships and other support to MTC alumni who are interested in pursuing further education. The […]
An interview with former staff member and student David Cowan
This year, our longtime Director of Operations David Cowan left his role at Mount Tamalpais College to devote himself full time to his work as Executive Director at Bonafide. Bonafide’s […]
MTC IN THE NEWS
Prison Educational Programs Shuttered By COVID-19 Pandemic Have Big Benefits
CBS SF Bay Area
March 12, 2021
Mount Tamalpais College Shows Appreciation to LAC Staff
Inside CDCR
February 24, 2021
Incarcerated Californians Can Soon Get Federal Aid For College. But Students Beware.
LAist
January 11, 2021
As COVID Surges Behind Bars in California, Why Is San Quentin Transferring Hundreds of Prisoners?
DemocracyNow!
December 15, 2020
Even in a Pandemic, San Quentin Must Restore Rehabilitation Programs
San Francisco Chronicle
December 14, 2020
Released from San Quentin, Rebuilding Their Lives
KQED
August 29, 2020
'I’m being treated like I'm not a person': Fear and Disease Inside San Quentin
San Francisco Chronicle
July 30, 2020
Coronavirus Canceled San Quentin Prison’s Rehabilitation Programs, Closing a Bridge to the Outside World
San Francisco Chronicle
July 25, 2020
How Can You Help People in Prison Right Now?
KQED
May 6, 2020
Can College Programs in Prison Survive COVID-19?
The Marshall Project
May 4, 2020
From Incarceration to Graduation
The California State University System
April 17, 2020
Investing in Inmate Education Can Reduce Repeat Crime
Comstock's Magazine
February 3, 2020
Finding Home After Leaving Prison
Great Big Story
January 16, 2020
At BAMPFA, 'The San Quentin Project' Rewrites the History of Prison Imagery
KQED
September 3, 2019
The Judge and Jury Agreed I Didn't Kill Anyone. So Why Did I Just Serve 16 Years for Murder?
New York Times
July 22, 2019
2,000 Leaked Photos Show the Cruelty of an Alabama Prison. Should They Be Published?
Mother Jones
April 19, 2019
Education is Changing Lives at California’s San Quentin Prison
Today's Students, Tomorrow's Talents
October 18, 2018
Restore the Vote
Crooked Media
October 17, 2018
The Frederick Douglass 200
The Guardian
September 20, 2018
Chan Zuckerberg Initiative (CZI) Aids Programs
San Quentin News
July 25, 2018
How to Find Truth in Today's Partisan World
UC Santa Cruz
June 18, 2018
The Dignity of Education in Prison
HuffPost
May 4, 2017
Prison University Project wins National Humanities Medal
University of California
September 21, 2016
Why Aren't There More Higher Ed Programs Behind Bars?
NPR
September 7, 2015
Expanding Minds Behind Bars
KALW
May 4, 2015
Crime Pays
This American Life
April 24, 2015
San Quentin’s Prison University Gives Inmates Freedom to Learn
SFGate
December 27, 2014
Prison.edu: On the Most Effective, Underfunded College System in the US
Los Angeles Review of Books
September 14, 2012
Learning and Trust on the Road to College Readiness at San Quentin
Big Ideas Fest
April 6, 2012
LATEST TWEETS
Gratitude, and updates from MTC alumni - https://mailchi.mp/mttamcollege.org/meet-our-graduates-570122
NEWS ARCHIVE
2022 (45)
- Wednesday, November 16 Red Flag Journal #1: Gaslighting: The Effects of Economic Abuse
- Tuesday, November 8 Candidates for State Assembly visit San Quentin media center
- Friday, October 21 Reason 22: An interview with Mount Tamalpais College’s Jody Lewen
- Thursday, October 20 Two lifers on the role of college in prison: ‘I found a new habit. Education.’
- Thursday, October 6 San Quentin Is Still Punishing People for Being Sick
- Sunday, October 2 Now Recruiting Faculty for Spring and Fall 2023
- Sunday, October 2 The Backstory: Juan Moreno Haines
- Wednesday, September 28 Fall 2022 Course Offerings
- Tuesday, September 13 A Conversation With Joe Garcia About His Recent Page One Feature Story
- Monday, September 12 College, clemency, and inside voices
- Thursday, September 8 Social Distancing: Then and Now
- Wednesday, September 7 My Wild and Winding Path to a College Degree Behind Bars
- Wednesday, August 31 Graduation Day
- Wednesday, August 31 Class of ‘22 Walks the Stage
- Wednesday, August 31 8 Innovative Educators in Marin and the Bay Area
- Friday, August 12 Nation’s First Standalone Prison Campus Celebrates Graduation
- Friday, August 12 Time to Go
- Tuesday, July 26 Black Tears
- Tuesday, July 12 My Name is Gibson
- Tuesday, July 12 Op-Ed–In prison, the work of journalism is challenging but essential
- Friday, July 8 Tying Water Access to Labor in Overcrowded Prisons is Wrong
- Tuesday, June 28 OpenLine
- Thursday, June 2 COVID 911
- Wednesday, June 1 Full recording of Reaching Higher: A benefit and community celebration
- Monday, May 23 A Letter From and For Your Future
- Saturday, May 21 Seeking Faculty for Fall 2022
- Thursday, May 5 Mount Tamalpais College Opens First On-Campus Computer Lab
- Wednesday, May 4 Mourning Our Losses
- Wednesday, April 27 California Inmates Study at 1st College Based Behind Bars
- Friday, April 8 San Quentin Prison College Gains Accreditation
- Thursday, February 17 Join us for Reaching Higher, a benefit and community celebration
- Wednesday, February 16 A New College Makes History with Help from AGB
- Tuesday, February 15 Announcing the Mount Tamalpais College Alumni Scholarship
- Tuesday, February 8 A Newly Accredited College for Incarcerated Students
- Tuesday, February 1 Mount Tamalpais College Achieves Accreditation
- Sunday, January 30 Save the Date for Reaching Higher
- Tuesday, January 25 On Resilience: Aaron Kurtis Mikkelsen
- Tuesday, January 25 On Resilience: Ray Ray
- Tuesday, January 25 On Resilience: Carl Raybon
- Wednesday, January 19 First Person: Why College Matters for People Serving Extreme Sentences
- Monday, January 10 What’s Next for Pell Grants for Incarcerated Students
- Thursday, December 30 Teaching in Prison: ‘You Have to Respect the Rules’
- Tuesday, December 21 Why Should I Have to Forgive You?
- Monday, December 20 From a Dishonorable Life to an Honorable Life: In Memory of Uncle Bill
- Friday, December 17 Who Am I?
- Monday, November 29 Two words for you this #GivingTuesday: thank you
- Monday, November 15 Introducing Michael Howe, Chief Advancement Officer
- Tuesday, November 2 Black Tears
- Friday, October 22 An interview with former staff member and student David Cowan
- Wednesday, October 20 Seeking faculty for Spring 2022
- Wednesday, October 6 Fall 2021 Course Offerings
- Tuesday, September 7 Meet Anila Yadavalli, Math Program Coordinator
- Sunday, August 15 A prison reckoning with remorse
- Friday, August 13 Community Dialogues with Assemblymember Marc Levine
- Monday, July 26 Seeking Writing and Math Instructors for Fall
- Thursday, June 24 Student Spotlight: Michael Moore on Friendship
- Tuesday, June 15 Student Spotlight: Alex Ross on Friendship
- Tuesday, June 15 Student Spotlight: Jesse Ayers on Friendship
- Tuesday, June 15 Student Spotlight: Quincy Paige on Friendship
- Thursday, June 3 In-Person Classes to Resume in September
- Wednesday, June 2 Historic Agreement Reached Allowing Laptop Use by Students
- Monday, May 24 COVID-19 Relief Efforts Expand to Additional Prisons
- Monday, May 17 Staff Spotlight: Jen Juras
- Monday, May 3 Journalism at San Quentin
- Monday, April 19 How I Convinced My Incarcerated Peers to Make Language a Priority
- Monday, April 19 President Jody Lewen Honored by James Irvine Foundation
- Monday, April 19 Showtime for Former Student Aaron Taylor
- Thursday, April 1 Our 2020 Annual Report is Now Available
- Friday, February 26 Community Dialogs: COVID-19 Vaccination and the Incarcerated Community
- Wednesday, February 17 Community Dialogs: COVID-19 Vaccination and the Incarcerated Community on February 25
- Thursday, February 11 Academic Program Resumes at San Quentin with Eight-Week Correspondence Courses
- Monday, February 8 Student Steve Brooks Honored by Society of Professional Journalists
- Friday, January 29 Community Dialogs: Innovative Approaches to Reentry
- Tuesday, January 19 Introducing New Staff Members
- Friday, January 15 Community Dialogs: Innovative Approaches to Reentry on January 26
- Tuesday, January 5 Community Dialogs: With This Knowledge Screening and Panel Discussion
- Monday, December 14 Even in a Pandemic, San Quentin Must Restore Rehabilitation Programs
- Tuesday, December 1 A Giving Tuesday Thank You From Mount Tamalpais College
- Sunday, November 29 Hey Governor
- Wednesday, November 11 Community Dialogs to Launch on December 1
- Wednesday, October 14 October 14: Update from the President
- Monday, September 21 Fall Program Update
- Wednesday, September 2 San Quentin’s COVID-Hell
- Saturday, August 29 Violent Offenders’ Lives Matter
- Friday, August 28 Introducing New Board Members
- Wednesday, August 19 Our COVID-19 Response Initiative for the Incarcerated Community in California
- Friday, August 14 Student Juan Moreno Haines on COVID-19 Inside San Quentin
- Friday, August 7 Collected Writings
- Wednesday, July 29 The College Program at San Quentin
- Thursday, July 23 Inside San Quentin Prison, You Sit and Wait Until COVID-19 Comes for You
- Thursday, July 23 Mobile Showers and Food Trucks Provided for San Quentin Staff
- Friday, July 17 Voices from Inside: Full Library
- Tuesday, July 14 Care Packages Delivered to Avenal State Prison
- Thursday, July 9 Voices from Inside: Transfers from California Institution for Men
- Thursday, July 9 July 9: Update from the President on COVID-19
- Monday, July 6 The View From Inside San Quentin State Prison
- Sunday, July 5 Commencement Address
- Friday, July 3 Right Side of History
- Friday, June 26 How Can You Help People in Prison Right Now?
- Friday, June 26 Students and Alumni Respond to COVID-19
- Thursday, June 25 Alumni Spotlight: Raphael Calix
- Thursday, June 25 Alumni Spotlight: Barney McClendon
- Thursday, June 25 Alumni Spotlight: Jonathan Chiu
- Thursday, June 25 Alumni Spotlight: Joseph Krauter
- Thursday, June 25 ‘I Spent 11 Years In Prison—And Produced a Rap Album at San Quentin’
- Thursday, June 18 June 18: Update from the President
- Tuesday, June 16 Alumni Spotlight: Michael Tyler on Fatherhood
- Tuesday, June 16 Alumni Spotlight: Rodney Scott on Fatherhood
- Tuesday, June 16 Alumni Spotlight: Wayne Boatwright on Fatherhood
- Tuesday, June 16 Alumni Spotlight: James Metters on Fatherhood
- Tuesday, June 16 Alumni Spotlight: Adnan Khan on Fatherhood
- Tuesday, June 16 Alumni Spotlight: Ray Harts on Fatherhood
- Tuesday, June 16 Alumni Spotlight: Felix Lucero on Fatherhood
- Thursday, June 11 Why Should I Have to Forgive You?
- Wednesday, June 3 Voices from Inside
- Monday, June 1 Program Status and Our Path to Accreditation
- Sunday, May 31 David Cowan on Reentry Support During COVID-19
- Wednesday, May 20 Our 2019 Annual Report is Now Available
- Saturday, April 25 Cultivating the Mind
- Sunday, March 29 March 29: Update from the President on COVID-19
- Tuesday, March 17 March 17: Update from the President on COVID-19
- Monday, March 2 Prison University Project Achieves Candidacy for Accreditation
- Friday, February 28 We Are All Directly Impacted: Mapping Societal Wellness, Institutions, and Self
- Thursday, February 27 Featured Winter Events: Open Mic, Ethics Bowl, and Book Club Discussions
- Sunday, February 16 Board Member Spotlight: Sia Henry
- Wednesday, February 12 Introducing New Staff Members
- Thursday, January 16 Former Student Jesse Vasquez’s Reentry Journey
- Friday, December 20 Our 2019 Holiday Gathering
- Monday, December 16 An Airbnb for the Formerly Incarcerated
- Friday, December 13 Jody Lewen Moderates Colloquium on Narratives of Incarceration at BAMPFA
- Friday, November 1 November 2019: Letter from the President
- Monday, October 28 Using Education to Struggle for Justice: An Interview with Josh Page
- Monday, October 28 The Opportunity to Be a Living Example: On Becoming a Teaching Assistant
- Monday, October 28 Footnote to What It is Like to Be an Older Inmate Doing Time in Prison
- Wednesday, October 16 ACCJC Site Visit: Join the Alumni and Community Forums!
- Monday, October 7 Call for Papers: Academic Conference Spring 2020
- Sunday, September 29 David Cowan to be Honored at UnCommon Law’s 4th Annual UnCommon Heroes Event
- Thursday, September 26 I Host a Popular Podcast. I’m Also in Prison.
- Friday, September 20 Faculty Spotlight: Courtney Rein
- Friday, September 20 Screening “College Behind Bars”
- Thursday, September 5 Introducing Our New Director of Student Affairs
- Tuesday, September 3 At BAMPFA, ‘The San Quentin Project’ Rewrites the History of Prison Imagery
- Sunday, September 1 Donor Spotlight: Our Monthly Supporters
- Tuesday, August 27 Inveterate—The Rock of Deferred Literacy
- Monday, August 5 Introducing our new Chief Operating Officer
- Thursday, June 13 Prison University Project Hosts Second Annual Board of Directors Retreat
- Wednesday, June 5 Meet the 2019 Graduates
- Saturday, June 1 Our 2018 Annual Report is Now Available
- Tuesday, May 28 Spring Lake
- Tuesday, April 30 Introducing Our New Grants Officer and Executive Assistant
- Sunday, April 7 Introducing New Board Members
- Tuesday, April 2 Student-Centered Learning at San Quentin
- Tuesday, April 2 April 2019: Letter from the President
- Tuesday, March 12 My Crossroads Moment
- Monday, March 4 Dispatch From San Quentin—Young, Earnest and Criminalized
- Monday, February 25 Students Competed in Second Annual Ethics Bowl at San Quentin
- Wednesday, February 6 Symposium on Criminal Justice Reform and Philanthropy—Students Reimagine Reform
- Wednesday, February 6 Dad Deserved Better
- Saturday, February 2 Oral History at San Quentin Prison
- Sunday, January 27 2018 by the Numbers
- Tuesday, January 22 University of Wyoming Symposium to Feature Executive Director Jody Lewen
- Tuesday, January 15 I Ran a Marathon in Prison
- Tuesday, January 8 Remembering Jane E. Kahn
- Sunday, January 6 Celebrating Student Expression at Open Mic Night
- Tuesday, January 1 Ear Hustle at City Arts & Lectures to Benefit the Prison University Project
- Tuesday, November 20 Reimagining Justice, Together
- Wednesday, November 7 On Art and Voting—Thinking About Tuesday’s Elections from Inside San Quentin
- Thursday, November 1 For Each Cage from Which I Break Free
- Thursday, November 1 Where the Movement Starts
- Thursday, November 1 November 2018: Letter from the President
- Thursday, November 1 People, Planet, Profit: Reflections on Business 101
- Thursday, October 18 Education is Changing Lives at California’s San Quentin Prison
- Wednesday, October 17 San Quentin—Restore the Right
- Wednesday, October 10 Allison Lopez Will Begin as Learning Specialist this Fall
- Friday, October 5 Jody Lewen ‘82 Advocates Prison Education
- Monday, October 1 One Prison Taught Me Racism. Another Taught Me Acceptance
- Tuesday, September 25 Celebrating 22 years of Higher Education in San Quentin at First Annual Gather & Give
- Thursday, September 20 Jody Lewen Named Frederick Douglass 200 Awardee
- Monday, July 30 Chan Zuckerberg Initiative Aids Programs
- Thursday, July 26 Foundations Announce 2018 Soros Justice Fellows
- Tuesday, July 3 Prison University Project’s 2018 Graduation Speeches
- Friday, June 22 Change from Inside
- Friday, June 1 Prison University Project Welcomes Three New Staff Members
- Tuesday, May 22 Call for Paper Proposals—Academic Conference at San Quentin
- Monday, April 9 My Past, Present, and Future Experiences in Education
- Tuesday, March 13 Biology with Lab
- Friday, February 23 Statewide Training on Higher Education in Prisons, March 18 – 20 2018
- Monday, February 12 Redemption is Not Just for Me
- Tuesday, November 14 Strengthening Democracy
- Tuesday, November 7 Friendship is a Blessing Beyond Measure
- Tuesday, October 31 Four Poems
- Tuesday, October 24 Two Ways My Perceptions Have Changed
- Tuesday, October 17 Why I Wanted to Go to College
- Tuesday, September 19 Change the Game
- Tuesday, August 29 A Dream Deferred
- Monday, August 21 Dungeons & Dragons—A Life Changing Experience
- Thursday, August 17 I Thought Being Gay Was a Sin Until I Saw My Friend Suffer in Prison
- Tuesday, August 15 The Value of Educating a Lifer
- Tuesday, August 8 Why Do I Want a College Degree?
- Monday, June 26 2017 Valedictory Address
- Friday, May 26 TEDxSanQuentin: Life Revealed
- Thursday, May 4 The Dignity of Education in Prison
- Friday, March 3 My Daughter, My Hero
- Tuesday, February 14 Stories of Friendship
- Thursday, February 9 When a Wedding Narrowed the ‘Emotional Distance’ of Prison
- Thursday, October 27 How a Second Chance Led Ex-Con Jay Ly to Some Stinkin Crawfish
- Friday, October 14 The Role of the University in the Age of Mass Incarceration
- Wednesday, October 12 What Does It Mean to Be a Real Man?
- Friday, September 16 President Obama Awards Prison University Project National Humanities Medal
- Tuesday, July 12 Prison University Project Graduates Class of 2016
- Friday, April 29 Creating a Healthy Society
- Friday, April 1 Volunteer Spotlight: Dan Wheeler
- Monday, May 4 Expanding Minds Behind Bars
- Friday, April 24 Crime Pays
- Friday, April 17 Apple, Ex-cons, and Second Chances
- Friday, April 10 Earning a Degree in Jail—Karl Marx, Aristotle and Strip Searches
- Saturday, December 27 San Quentin’s Prison University Gives Inmates Freedom to Learn
- Friday, September 14 Prison.edu—On the Most Effective, Underfunded College System in the US
- Friday, June 1 Jody Lewen on the Prison University Project
- Thursday, April 12 The Cost of a Nation of Incarceration
- Monday, June 20 Inside San Quentin, Inmates Go To College
- Sunday, March 6 Prison University Gives Inmates Hope
- Saturday, March 5 Philosophy in Prison
- Thursday, February 17 Stanford Students Lead Classes in San Quentin Prison
- Wednesday, August 18 Prison Break: Inmates at San Quentin Study for Success
- Wednesday, July 28 Slideshow: San Quentin State Prison’s University
- Wednesday, July 14 Tiburon’s Jody Lewen Is Involved in A San Quentin University Project
- Monday, June 1 Freeing Minds
- Thursday, February 26 Behind the Scenes: Inside San Quentin’s Prison University Project
- Monday, September 15 Second Chance Programs Quietly Gain Acceptance
- Wednesday, October 31 Prisoners’ Progress
- Thursday, June 28 Inmates Graduate in San Quentin Ceremony
- Wednesday, June 7 A Visit to San Quentin Prison
- Sunday, March 19 Jody Lewen: San Quentin Is A Part Of Marin
- Friday, August 12 Geology 101 in Prison
- Wednesday, January 19 California Prisons Put New Focus on Rehabilitation
- Tuesday, January 18 Focusing California’s Prison System on Correction
- Saturday, March 15 Learning Under Lockdown
- Wednesday, February 12 Inmates Get Second Chance at Education
