Alliant International University
Psychology
Overview
On July 1, 2001, California School of Professional Psychology and United States International University combined to form Alliant International University, an independent, not-for-profit institution of higher learning. CSPP was founded in 1969, with help from the California Psychological Association (CPA), to meet a need for clinical psychologists. It was the first professional school of clinical psychology and is the largest in the country. CSPP graduates are leading practitioners, researchers, and consultants throughout California, the U.S., and all over the world. USIU had a fifty-year history of providing broad-based educational programs. The San Diego campus is ranked among the three U.S. universities with the highest percentage of international students. AIU is a Hispanic Serving Institution, by definition of the U.S. Department of Education.
Students come from every continent on the globe, eager to share their diverse backgrounds with each other. Some 6,400 students attend AIU, including approximately 3,700 from the U.S. and 2,700 from other countries, the vast majority from Kenya. Roughly 30 percent of AIU students describe their ethnic background as Asian, Native American/Pacific Islander, Latino/Hispanic, or African American. About three quarters of graduate students are women. Approximately 2 percent of students identify themselves as having a disability.
The Location and Community
Alliant International University has locations in urban areas of California and Mexico. The San Francisco, Irvine, Los Angeles, and San Diego campuses are coastal. The Fresno campus is inland in the central valley and also offers instruction in Sacramento for some programs. In addition, there is a campus in Mexico City.
Programs of Study and Degree Requirements
The California School of Organizational Studies offers master's and doctoral degrees in industrial and organizational psychology, organizational development, organizational behavior, and organizational consulting. The California School of Professional Psychology (CSPP) offers graduate programs in clinical psychology (Psy.D./Ph.D., APA accredited), marital and family therapy (M.A./Psy.D., AAMFT accredited), and counseling (M.A.) and a postdoctoral Master of Science in psychopharmacology for licensed psychologists. The Graduate School of Education offers educational psychology programs (M.A./Psy.D.) and an array of graduate education programs. The College of Arts and Sciences offers Psy.D. and Ph.D. degrees in forensic psychology.
The four-year (minimum) clinical psychology Psy.D. programs stress practitioner-oriented training for those interested in careers primarily as service providers; they include an applied doctoral project. The five-year (minimum) clinical Ph.D. programs stress more heavily the acquisition of research skills for those seeking careers in research settings or academia and who also want clinical practice skills; these programs include completion of a scholarly dissertation. The clinical psychology programs have emphasis tracks in analytic psychology, child/family, cross-cultural, health, forensic, multicultural, neuropsychology, psychodynamic, and gender studies. They include field placements and internships for accrual of licensure hours.
The forensic psychology program is unique in that students are taught by faculty members with interdisciplinary backgrounds (e.g., psychologists, attorneys, criminologists), and from the very first semester students receive course work designed to integrate the fields of law, psychology, and criminal justice.
The organizational studies programs in psychology train students to become organizational consultants (internal and external), personnel and human resource administrators, training and EAP managers, and strategic planning executives. The Ph.D. programs are more focused on research and require the completion of a dissertation. The Psy.D. programs stress more practical skills. All students gain extensive experience in the field through paid local and national internships.
The Graduate School of Education programs in psychology incorporate all state-mandated elements and are designed to be relevant to challenges faced by teachers, school psychologists, and other educators. To this end, they address violence prevention strategies, instructional technology, multiculturalism, and neuropsychology.
Facilities & Resources
Each campus has a library containing from 16,000 to 25,000 volumes plus 250 to 350 journal subscriptions, audiotapes, videotapes, and psychological test collections. Also available are statistical data processing facilities, microcomputers, computerized bibliographic search facilities, and interlibrary loans. The Walter Library, on the San Diego campus, maintains a diverse collection of more than 140,000 books, dissertations, theses, journals, psychological tests, and instructional videos, with emphases in psychology, business, education, global liberal studies, and hotel, restaurant, and tourism studies.
Expenses and Aid
Full-time tuition for entering doctoral students is $960 per unit. Internship fees are less than full-time tuition. Students in the Psy.D. program should expect to pay approximately three years of full-time tuition, plus an internship fee and extension fees for any additional time needed to complete the doctoral project. Students in the Ph.D. program should expect to pay approximately four years of full-time tuition, plus an internship fee and extension fees for any additional time needed to complete the doctoral dissertation. Other miscellaneous fees total approximately $150 per year. Tuition for master's degree programs was $510 to $960 per unit and varied by program.
Financial Aid / Scholarships/Grants
Alliant International University (AIU) offers institutional scholarships and Diversity Scholarships that range from $500 to $2500. More than 70 percent of the students also borrow funds through the Federal Family Educational Loan Programs. Last year, Alliant awarded about $3.7 million in scholarships, work-study, Federal Perkins Loans, and other grants.
Housing/Living Expenses:
The cost of living for a student (including housing and food, transportation, and personal expenses) for the nine-month academic year ranges from $13,620 to $17,240. The estimated cost for books and supplies is $1500 per year. The Los Angeles campus offers limited housing for students coming from out of state (through CSULA); otherwise, the San Diego campus is the only other campus that offers student housing. The cost for a double room is $7430 and for a private room, $9650, at the San Diego campus. Most AIU students live in communities adjacent to the campuses.
How to Apply / Application
An undergraduate degree, basic course work or a major in psychology, recommendations, and an extensive essay are required. A personal interview is required for all finalists. More than 2,300 undergraduate and graduate applications are received each year; acceptance rates vary from 7 percent to 50 percent, depending on program, campus, and specialized track. Applications are accepted on a rolling basis; however, there are early notification deadlines for some programs. Priority financial aid deadlines for applications are January 2 for Alliant's financial aid form and February 15 for the FAFSA.
Who to Contact
Alliant International University
10455 Pomerado Road
San Diego, California 92131-1799
866-U-ALLIANT (toll-free)
Fax: 858-635-4555
E-mail: admissions@alliant.edu
Faculty
San Francisco Bay Campus: 510-523-2300
• Diane Adams, Ph.D., Wright Institute: multicultural clinical competency. Benisa Berry, Ph.D., California School of Professional Psychology-Alameda: organizational innovation, leadership development. Murray Bilmes, Ph.D., NYU: group process, psychology of memory, trauma. Stephen Blum, Ph.D., NYU: social policies in planning and managed care. Edward F. Bourg, Ph.D., California School of Professional Psychology-Berkeley: family and couples therapy, health psychology. Joanna Bressler, Ph.D., NYU: health psychology, women's issues. Peter Chang, Ph.D., USC: family and child psychology, Asian families. Bruce A. B. Cooper, Ph.D., Berkeley: tests and measurements, research and statistics. Lowell Cooper, Ph.D., Yale: group and organizational process, adolescence. Harriet Curtis-Boles, Ph.D., Berkeley: school-based intervention with high-risk children, psychotherapy with African-American clients. Philip Cushman, Ph.D., Saybrook Institute: self in historical and cultural perspectives. Karen McLean Donaldson, Ed.D., Massachusetts Amherst: multicultural, nonsexist, and antiracist education. Dalia Ducker, Ph.D., CUNY: psychology of women, professional practice issues. Lucy Rau Ferguson, Ph.D., Berkeley: family life cycle, adolescent identity formation. Samuel Gerson, Ph.D., Texas at Austin: psychodynamic psychotherapy, delivery of mental health services. Debra Gordon, Ph.D., Berkeley: children's play, cognitive and emotional development. Robert Jay Green, Ph.D., Michigan State: family and couples therapy process and outcome. Frederick Heide, Ph.D., Penn State: psychotherapy process and outcome, somatic therapies. Carol Huffine, Ph.D., Berkeley: adult development and aging, applied research on social problems. Davis Ying Ja, Ph.D., Washington (Seattle): substance abuse and AIDS treatment and prevention. Ira Levin, Ph.D., Illinois at Chicago: organizational culture and change. Gerald Michaels, Ph.D., Michigan: transition to parenthood, developmental psychopathology. Valory Mitchell, Ph.D., Berkeley: psychology of women, lesbian/gay issues. Eduardo Morales, Ph.D., Texas Tech: AIDS, substance abuse, ethnic and sexual minorities. Rhoda Olkin, Ph.D., California, Santa Barbara: psychosocial aspects of disability. Natalie Porter, Ph.D., Delaware: clinical training, teen pregnancy. Richard Rodriguez, Ph.D., Utah: Chicano/Latino mental health, gay/lesbian issues. Jyotsna Sanzgiri, Ph.D., Pittsburgh: women in management, social responsibility in business. Anne Singer-Harris, Ph.D., Stanford: Jungian aspects of play therapy. Derald Wing Sue, Ph.D., Oregon: multicultural counseling and therapy. Alan Swope, Ph.D., Columbia: psychoanalytic psychotherapy, psychology and technology. Daniel Taube, Ph.D., Hahnemann: interface between clinical and legal issues. Christopher Tori, Ph.D., Kentucky: cross-cultural psychology, addictions. Rebecca Turner, Ph.D., George Washington: biological and psychological factors affecting health-related behaviors. Karen Schuster Webb, Ph.D., Indiana: language and cognition, inclusive pedagogy. Paul Werner, Ph.D., Berkeley: personality and family assessment. Diane Zelman, Ph.D., Wisconsin-Madison: anxiety disorders, neuropsychology.
Fresno Campus: 559-456-2777
• Sue Ammen, Ph.D., California School of Professional Psychology-Fresno: bonding and attachment issues of parents and children. Lynette E. Bassman, Ph.D., NYU: holistic/alternative approaches to mental health. Merle Canfield, Ph.D., Kansas: program evaluation, clinical outcome studies. Ennio Cipani, Ph.D., Florida State: developmental disabilities, ADHD. Elizabeth Davis-Russell, Ph.D., NYU: psychotherapy outcomes, cultural issues in psychotherapy. Manuel Figueroa-Unda, Ph.D., Stanford: ethnocultural research on learning and motivation. Wesley Forbes, Ed.D., Massachusetts Amherst: delinquency/corrections, ban on IQ testing of African Americans. Ronald Gandolfo, Ph.D., LSU: individual therapy, intellectual and personality assessment. Lillian Harrison, Ph.D., Miami (Ohio): gender and cross-cultural differences, training and supervision. Jeffrey Helms, Psy.D., Spaulding: juvenile forensic psychology. Jacqueline Keller, Ph.D., California, Santa Barbara: trauma victims, occupational stresses in law and medicine. Mary Beth Kenkel, Ph.D., Miami (Ohio): rural mental health, job stress and social support. Toni Knott, Ph.D., Fielding Institute: organizational consulting. Sue Kuba, Ph.D., California School of Professional Psychology-Fresno: women's health, eating disorders. Paul Lebby, Ph.D., Berkeley: neuropsychological evaluation of surgical candidates for epilepsy treatment. Brian Myers, Ph.D., Ohio: juror bias, recovery of repressed memory, eyewitness and polygraph testimony for jury verdicts. Kevin O'Connor, Ph.D., Toledo: play therapy. Barry Perlmutter, Ph.D., Northwestern: research design and methodology, juvenile justice systems. John Preston, Psy.D., Baylor: psychopharmacology, depression. Shelly Stokes, Ph.D., Michigan State: character disorders and differential diagnosis, cross-cultural issues. Ronald Teague, Ph.D., California School of Professional Psychology-Berkeley: Jungian psychology, psychoanalysis. Donald Templer, Ph.D., Kentucky: schizophrenia, neuropsychological assessment. Jane Younglove, J.D., San Joaquin College of Law: child abuse identification.
Los Angeles Campus: 626-284-2777
• Kimlin Ashing-Giwa, Ph.D., Colorado: HIV prevention, breast cancer. John Bakaly, Ph.D., USC: intervention with children and adolescents. Leena Banerjee, Ph.D., Virginia Tech: double blind theory, child abuse. Linda Beckman, Ph.D., UCLA: women's health, substance abuse. Terece Bell, Ph.D., USC: cognitive development of memory. Ellin Bloch, Ph.D., Cincinnati: post-traumatic stress and trauma intervention. Elaine Burke, Ph.D., Denver: pediatric and adult neuropsychology. Ana Luisa Bustamante, Ph.D., Arizona: biculturation process, gay and lesbian identity development. John Caffaro, Ph.D., Fielding Institute: family and sibling relationships, sexual abuse. Jo Ann Carr, Ph.D., UCLA: object relations. Theodora Ting Chau, Ph.D., Wisconsin-Madison: technological change and organizational behavior. Victor Cohen, Ph.D., Michigan: countertransference, psychotherapist self-development. Karen Finello, Ph.D., USC: early identification and intervention with high-risk infants. Tracy Heller, Ph.D., UCLA: adult and child psychopathology, family factors related to mental health. Calvin Hoffman, Ph.D., Nebraska: management and employee development. Judith Holloway, Ph.D., California School of Professional Psychology-Los Angeles: community psychology, ecopsychology. Tammy Ichinotsubo, Ph.D., Fuller Theological Seminary: trauma and family violence, multicultural and religious issues. Paula Johnson, Ph.D., UCLA: peace studies, social policy research. Jeffrey Kane, Ph.D., Michigan: performance appraisal and performance rating process. Dennis Klos, Ph.D., Harvard: interpersonal conflict resolution, couples therapy. Richard Kopp, Ph.D., Chicago: Adlerian psychology. Donald Mankin, Ph.D., Johns Hopkins: technology, management of human resources. Glen Isoa Masuda, Ph.D., Washington (Seattle): acculturation issues with Asian Americans, child custody decisions. Richard Mendoza, Ph.D., California, Irvine: acculturation among refugees and immigrants. Robert Miller, Ph.D., IIT: cognitive processes, problem solving. H. Lynn Newman, Ph.D., USC: executive development, health-care organizations. Elahe Nezami, Ph.D., USC: smoking cessation, behavioral treatment of hypertension. Esteban Olmedo, Ph.D., Baylor: psychometrics and test bias, acculturation. Carlton Parks, Ph.D., Minnesota: adolescent depression, homophobia. Kenneth Polite, Ph.D., Fuller Theological Seminary: clinical training issues, diversity. Susan Regas, Ph.D., Purdue: family therapy outcomes, sexual dysfunction. Michael Scavio, Ph.D., Iowa: psychopharmacology, learning and memory. Kumea Shorter-Gooden, Ph.D., Maryland: identity development in African-American female adolescents. Sylvie Taylor, Ph.D., UCLA: psychopathology of African-American children living in urban poverty. Jeff Tirengel, Psy.D., California School of Professional Psychology-Los Angeles: pregnancy-related issues, uses of media. Kathryn White, Ph.D., North Carolina: sexual and physical abuse. Seymour Zelen, Ph.D., UCLA: attribution theory, self-concept.
San Diego Campus: 858-635-4772
• Richard Baker, Ph.D., New Mexico: cross-cultural psychology, object relations. Kristine Brady, Ph.D., Virginia Tech: relationship violence, gender issues, media psychology. Steven Bucky, Ph.D., Cincinnati: alcoholism. Joanne Callan, Ph.D., Texas: psychodiagnostics, adolescent/parental counseling. Mei-I Chang, Psy.D., Indiana State: women's issues, ethnic minority issues. John Barton Cunningham, Ph.D., USC: conflict and trust in organizations. Constance Dalenberg, Ph.D., Denver: social psychology, family violence. E. Jane Davidson, Ph.D., Claremont: consulting psychology. David Diamond, Ph.D., Michigan: psychoanalytic theory and psychopathology. Oliva Espin, Ph.D., Florida: Latino immigrants and refugees, women. Donald Eulert, Ph.D., New Mexico: Jungian psychology, comparative cultures. Bernardo Ferdman, Ph.D., Yale: ethnic diversity in organizations, group and intergroup behavior. Sharon Foster, Ph.D., SUNY at Stony Brook: childhood competence and peer relations, behavioral assessment. Richard Gevirtz, Ph.D., DePaul: physiological patterning in stress-related disorders, biofeedback training. Melanie Greenberg, Ph.D., SUNY at Stony Brook: coping with chronic illness, psychological and social contexts of health. Kristine Lewis, Ph.D., California, Irvine: leadership and emotion expression, intelligence in the workplace. Alan Lincoln, Ph.D., California School of Professional Psychology-San Diego: early childhood psychopathology, autism and language disorders. Rodney Lowman, Ph.D., Michigan State: theory and taxonomy of work dysfunctions, professional ethics as applied to organizational problems and issues. Delbert Nebeker, Ph.D., Washington (Seattle): I/O psychology, reward systems. Perry Nicassio, Ph.D., Northwestern: coping with chronic illness, acculturation and mental health. Adele Rabin, Ph.D., Houston: comparative psychology outcomes, women's issues. Neil Ribner, Ph.D., Cincinnati: divorce, stepfamilies. Richard Sorenson, Ph.D., Washington (Seattle): organizational psychology, personnel selection and assignment. Raymond Trybus, Ph.D., Saint Louis: disability and rehabilitation, psychology of deafness. Billy Vaughn, Ph.D., California, San Diego: microcomputers and learning disabilities, culture and thought. Donald Viglione Jr., Ph.D., LIU: personality assessment, child resiliency.