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CSUF Project Rebound

Your Future

Your past doesn’t limit your future.

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🔶 At Project Rebound CSUF, we support formerly incarcerated students in building brighter futures through education, resources, and a community that believes in your success. We don’t just open doors — we walk with you through them.

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Our Commitment

Brighter Futures

Through Education

Project Rebound at Cal State Fullerton opens the doors of higher education to formerly incarcerated students — removing barriers, building skills, and creating pathways to purposeful careers and lives.

Start Your Journey → ( Intake Form )

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The U.S. has the highest incarceration rate in the world

Largest

California operates the biggest prison & jail system in the country

Billions

In taxpayer dollars diverted from schools & social services each year

Why Our Work Matters

Mass incarceration drains public budgets, widens social inequality, and creates a class of people locked out of mainstream opportunity long after their release. Formerly incarcerated people face steep barriers to housing, transportation, and employment.

They also face major roadblocks accessing the transformative power of higher education — the pathway most likely to lead to a more stable, prosperous, and purposeful life.

Our students bring knowledge, experience, and grit that strengthen the CSUF community. They also have uniquely urgent needs — and we’re here to meet them.

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Langsdorf Hall

In-House Tutoring

Free, personalized academic support

One-on-one and small-group tutoring in math, writing, and more — tailored to your courses so you build skills, close gaps, and move with confidence.

Strengthen study habits, fill knowledge gaps, and stay on pace toward graduation.

Langsdorf Hall

Apply for FAFSA

Hands-on financial-aid guidance

We walk you through every step of the FAFSA — from documents to deadlines — so you can unlock grants, fee waivers, and aid without the guesswork.

With your funding in place, you stay focused on classes and your goals.

Langsdorf Hall

Admissions

From application to acceptance

We help you understand CSUF requirements, evaluate transcripts, plan transfer pathways, and polish personal statements.

Individualized support so you start your university journey on solid footing.

Langsdorf Hall

Funding

Scholarships & Fellowships

Beyond FAFSA: scholarships built for Rebound students, fellowships that fit your field, and Dept. of Rehab. support when you qualify.

Cover tuition, books, and living costs so you can focus on your success.

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Project Rebound Community

Our Mission

Project Rebound constructs a life-affirming alternative to the revolving door policies of mass incarceration by making higher education more accessible and supportive of formerly incarcerated students so that they can acquire the knowledge and skills of a university education, enhance their capacity for civic engagement and community leadership, secure meaningful and gratifying employment, empower themselves and their families, and ultimately make stronger, safer communities.

Leadership

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Our Vision

We envision a just and equitable world in which all people, including those with an incarceration experience, have access to high-quality higher education and comprehensive student support services that foster achievement, transformation, empowerment, social responsibility, and flourishing.

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Value of People

The Intrinsic Value of Persons. We believe that every person has inherent value and holds the power of possibility and transformation within them.

Equitable Access

High-quality, higher education is fundamental to breaking intergenerational cycles of poverty, abuse, addiction, unemployment, and confinement.

Proven Leadership

We believe that the integration, education, and leadership of formerly incarcerated people are essential to the work of creating solutions to the social crisis of mass incarceration.

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Our Guiding Values

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Public Safety

We believe that meaningful, high-quality higher education ultimately makes stronger, safer communities; we believe that public resources are better invested in education and other opportunities for transformation than prisons and punishment.

Mission Aligned

We aim to support the higher education and successful reintegration of the formerly incarcerated through mentorship and living example of other formerly incarcerated students, graduates, faculty, and staff.

Civic Engagement

We believe that community engagement is at once a right, a responsibility, and a means of empowerment; we aim to inspire all Rebound Scholars to be informed and engaged civic agents.

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Academic Counseling

One-on-One Academic Counseling

Every student’s journey is different, which is why Project Rebound offers individualized academic counseling. Our counselors help you create an education plan, choose courses that align with your goals, and understand graduation requirements. We check in regularly to make sure you’re on track and adjust your plan as needed. With a team that knows where you’re coming from and where you want to go, you’ll never walk this path alone.

Career Support

Career and Job Readiness Support

Project Rebound at CSUF prepares students for life after graduation through personalized career development. We provide résumé writing assistance, mock interviews, and job search strategies tailored to your goals and background. Whether you're exploring internships or applying for full-time positions, we’ll help you present your strengths and experiences confidently. Our career readiness support is designed to ensure you’re not only earning a degree—but building a future that’s stable and fulfilling.