Project Rebound was created in 1967 by the late Professor John Irwin. Dr. John Irwin, formerly incarcerated, earned his Doctorate and taught at San Francisco State. He created Project Rebound to assist students from the juvenile or adult justice system with the enrollment process.
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 and a Ph.D. from UC Berkeley. Then, he served as a Professor of Sociology and Criminology at San Francisco State University for 27 years, becoming known internationally as an expert on the U.S. prison system.
In 1967, Dr. Irwin created Project Rebound as a way to matriculate people into the 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 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 nineteen CSU campuses: Bakersfield, Chico, Easy Bay, Fresno, Fullerton, Humboldt, Long Beach, Los Angeles, Monterey Bay, Northridge, Pomona, Sacramento, San Bernardino, San Diego, San Francisco, San Diego, San Marcos, San Jose, and Stanislaus. Since 2016, Project Rebound students have achieved a 3.0 GPA, a zero percent recidivism rate, and 87% of graduates have secured full-time employment or admission to postgraduate programs.