Mount Tamalpais College in San Quentin State Prison, the first accredited junior college behind bars in the U.S., “is a profound step forward in prison education,” says Ted Mitchell, president of the American Council on Education. The college, which can accommodate 300 students per semester, is funded by private donations, with a paid staff and volunteer faculty. It changes prison conversations, says former inmate Richard “Bonaru” Richardson. Richardson became executive editor of the inmate-led San Quentin News, a monthly newspaper distributed to California’s 35 prisons that publishes stories of men who pursued higher education while incarcerated.

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