Of the various college programs at San Quentin, two are the most established: Patten University, coordinated by the Prison University Project (PUP), and Coastline Community College, coordinated by the Education Department’s Distance Learning Program.
Both programs require a high school diploma or a GED certificate and many men in blue have successfully participated in both. What motivates students to enroll in courses with either program can depend on their preferred method of study. PUP emphasizes classroom experience while Coastline uses video instruction and mail-in course work and exams.
According to Jody Lewen, Executive Director of PUP at San Quentin, and Tom Bolema, head of the Distance Learning Program, PUP currently has more than 300 enrolled students and Coastline College has 70. Both colleges offer accredited programs to earn an undergraduate Associate Degree.
The Patten College program depends on PUP, a non-profit organization funded by private donations. PUP has no registration fees and all student school supplies are free. Textbooks, calculators, rulers and protractors are loaned to students free of charge. Patten has a mini-college campus on the prison that is staffed by volunteer college professors and graduate students from Bay Area colleges and universities.
Salaried state employees administer the Distance Learning Program headed by Bolema. Students can file for a state waiver to avoid registration fees, so most students can enroll for free. Until summer 2012, students in Coastline had to pay for the textbooks for each course, which could cost up to $250 per course. But thanks to an education grant, textbooks for all courses are also on loan, free of charge.
Therefore, both colleges are affordable and accessible to all men on the mainline.
Both programs also have study halls. PUP has a study hall open every evening, six days a week between two large classrooms and two small ones. PUP’s study hall is open every evening, Sunday through Friday, 6 p.m. to 8:15 p.m., and has an additional study hall Friday mornings in one large classroom from 9 a.m. to noon. PUP usually has between four and eight math and writing tutors (college professors and graduate students) to help students with homework assignments and test preparation.
Coastline’s study hall is four days a week, Monday through Thursday, in two large classrooms, from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. Coastline at San Quentin has education department employees as proctors to administer tests and quizzes and to mail out assignments and distribute books. Coastline’s instruction depends heavily on the closed-circuit video system of the institution. It has recorded video lectures played at scheduled times over the video system for students who own personal television sets. For students who do not own TVs or who work during scheduled playing times, Coastline has a TV/DVD available for use during their study hall on a first come, first serve basis. Coastline assignments are scheduled in advance and at the beginning of the semester students are given a set schedule of when they are due.
Students enrolled in Coastline must read entire textbooks on a subject and be familiar with most of its terms in order to pass. During tests, Coastline students are not allowed to have anything but a No. 2 pencil and are allowed up to two hours to finish the test.
PUP offers a classroom experience for its students with live instruction, feedback and flexibility with assignments. Teachers take roll and attendance is mandatory. Teachers lecture, have discussions with students, assign homework and administer tests and quizzes. They also offer office hours for students struggling with the material.
Coastline students can study on their own time anywhere they want. They mail in their completed assignments but tests must be taken in the presence of a proctor. A Coastline student may also contact a Distance Learning Instructor at the Coastline College campus in southern California via U.S. Mail.
Interested inmates may send in a request to the Education Department for enrollment information on either program.
