Fielding Graduate University (previously Fielding Graduate Institute and The Fielding Institute) is a private graduate-level university in

Santa Barbara, California Santa Barbara ( es, Santa Bárbara, meaning "Saint Barbara") is a coastal city in Santa Barbara County, California, of which it is also the county seat. Situated on a south-facing section of coastline, the longest such section on the West Coa ...

. It offers postgraduate and doctoral studies mainly in

psychology Psychology is the scientific study of mind and behavior. Psychology includes the study of conscious and unconscious phenomena, including feelings and thoughts. It is an academic discipline of immense scope, crossing the boundaries betwe ...

education Education is a purposeful activity directed at achieving certain aims, such as transmitting knowledge or fostering skills and character traits. These aims may include the development of understanding, rationality, kindness, and honesty. ...

, and

organizational studies Organization studies (also called organization science or organizational studies) is the academic field interested in a ''collective activity, and how it relates to organization, organizing, and management''. It is "the examination of how individua ...

, primarily through

distance education Distance education, also known as distance learning, is the education of students who may not always be physically present at a school, or where the learner and the teacher are separated in both time and distance. Traditionally, this usually in ...

programs. Fielding Graduate University was founded in 1974 by

Frederic M. Hudson Frederic M. Hudson (1934–2015) was an American philosopher, educator, writer, and thought leader in the area of adult development, adult learning and leadership coaching. He was the founding President of the Fielding Graduate University and the Hu ...

, Hallock Hoffman, and Renata Tesch. They designed Fielding as a graduate program for mid-career professionals who were not being served by traditional universities.

Academics

The university offers graduate programs for adult professionals seeking master's and doctoral degrees. It offers degree and certificate programs through the School of Psychology and School of Leadership Studies. The programs include online learning, individual faculty-student mentoring and assessment, and in-person events of various types in many locations throughout the year. The professions targeted include

clinical psychology Clinical psychology is an integration of social science, theory, and clinical knowledge for the purpose of understanding, preventing, and relieving psychologically based distress or Mental disorder, dysfunction and to promote subjective mental ...

media psychology Media psychology is the branch and specialty field in psychology that focuses on the interaction of human behavior with media and technology. Media psychology is not limited to mass media or media content; it includes all forms of mediated communi ...

educational leadership Educational leadership is the process of enlisting and guiding the talents and energies of teachers, students, and parents toward achieving common educational aims. This term is often used synonymously with school leadership in the United States a ...

organizational leadership Leadership studies is a multidisciplinary academic field of study that focuses on leadership in organizational contexts and in human life. Leadership studies has origins in the social sciences (e.g., sociology, anthropology, psychology), in ...

, and

human development Human development may refer to: * Development of the human body * Developmental psychology * Human development (economics) * Human Development Index, an index used to rank countries by level of human development * Human evolution, the prehistoric ...

, within the corporate, nonprofit, and public sectors. Fielding was the first university to offer a Ph.D program in media psychology. Fielding's learning model implements a student learning plan, contract-based learning, competency-based assessment, student-to-student peer feedback, project and portfolio reviews, and final thesis or dissertation. The school's website says that its "distributed learning model" combines "in-person" and "remote" participation. , its School of Leadership offers "accelerated" Ph.D. degrees that can be earned in as little as three years, and its School of Psychology offers a Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology that can be earned in five or six years. The average (mean) time to complete a PhD program at Fielding is 7.5 years. The university is accredited by the

WASC WASC may refer to: * Supreme Court of Western Australia * WASC (AM), a radio station (1530 AM) licensed to Spartanburg, South Carolina, United States * West Africa Submarine Cable * West African School Certificate * Western Association of Schoo ...

Senior College and University Commission (WSCUC). Its APA accreditation was restored in 2019 after being listed on probation.

Partnerships

Fielding offers a doctorate in Creative Leadership through the

University of the Virgin Islands The University of the Virgin Islands (or UVI) is a public historically black land-grant university in the United States Virgin Islands. History UVI was founded as the College of the Virgin Islands on March 16, 1962. In 1986, it officially beca ...

(UVI), is developing a doctoral program in urban leadership and entrepreneurship with the

University of District of Columbia The University of the District of Columbia (UDC) is a public historically black land-grant university in Washington, D.C. It was established in 1851 and is the only public university in the city. UDC is a member school of the Thurgood Marshall C ...

and

Tulane University Tulane University, officially the Tulane University of Louisiana, is a private research university in New Orleans, Louisiana. Founded as the Medical College of Louisiana in 1834 by seven young medical doctors, it turned into a comprehensive pu ...

’s Payson Center for Global Development, and established the Center for the Advancement of STEM Leadership with UVI, North Carolina A&T, and the Association of American Colleges & Universities. The latter earned a $9 million

National Science Foundation The National Science Foundation (NSF) is an independent agency of the United States government that supports fundamental research and education in all the non-medical fields of science and engineering. Its medical counterpart is the National ...

grant in 2018. In 2015 the university was granted special consultative status to the

United Nations Economic and Social Council The United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC; french: links=no, Conseil économique et social des Nations unies, ) is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations, responsible for coordinating the economic and social fields ...

(ECOSOC).

Notable alumni

Evelyn Torton Beck Evelyn Torton Beck (born January 18, 1933) has been described as "a scholar, a teacher, a feminist, and an outspoken Jew and lesbian". Until her retirement in 2002 she specialized in women's studies, Jewish women's studies and lesbian studies at th ...

- feminist theorist and professor at

University of Maryland, College Park The University of Maryland, College Park (University of Maryland, UMD, or simply Maryland) is a public land-grant research university in College Park, Maryland. Founded in 1856, UMD is the flagship institution of the University System of ...

Tara Brach Tara Brach (born May 17, 1953) is an American psychologist, author, and proponent of Buddhist meditation. She is a guiding teacher and founder of the Insight Meditation Community of Washington, D.C. (IMCW). Her colleagues in the Vipassanā, or ...

- psychologist and meditation expert * Marshall Colt - television actor, psychologist * K. Drorit "Dee" Gaines - neuropsychologist and radio host *

Devon Jersild Devon Jersild (born August 25, 1958) is a clinical psychologist, author and screenwriter. Biography Devon Jersild was born August 25, 1958. She graduated summa cum laude from Dartmouth College, and was awarded a master's degree by the Bread Loa ...

- psychologist and author * Salud Carbajal - United States Representative from California's 24th congressional district *

Janja Lalich Janja Lalich (b. 1945) is an American sociologist and writer. Lalich is best known as a foremost expert on cults and coercion, charismatic authority, power relations, ideology and social control. She is a professor emerita of sociology at the ...

- sociologist studying cults * Gina Loudon - Republican activist *

Lyle Nelson Lyle Barber Nelson (born February 9, 1949 in McCall, Idaho) is a retired American biathlete. He represented USA at four Olympics. At his last Olympics in 1988, he was the flag bearer. In 1976 he finished 35th in the Individual 20K biathlon. H ...

- Four Time Olympian in the Biathlon, 13 time United States or North American Champion * Marilyn Price-Mitchell - psychologist and columnist * Judith Sewell Wright - American author, speaker, lifestyles expert and life coach * Steven Hassan - Founder of the Freedom of Mind Resource Center, author, speaker, de-programming expert

Notable faculty

* Tiffany Field - psychologist *

Ruthellen Josselson Ruthellen Josselson is professor of clinical psychology at The Fielding Graduate University and a psychotherapist in practice. Work She was formerly a professor at The Hebrew University of Jerusalem and Towson University, a visiting professor at H ...

- clinical psychologist * Malcolm Knowles - adult education scholar * Jeremy J. Shapiro - psychologist and social theorist *

Four Arrows Donald Trent Jacobs, also known as "Wahinkpe Topa," a Lakota language, Lakota term translating as Four Arrows,"Four ...

- Education, Leadership, and Psychology scholar

References

External links

Official website
{{Coord, 34, 26, 3.68, N, 119, 42, 50.19, W, type:edu_region:US-CA, display=title Fielding Graduate University Universities and colleges in Santa Barbara County, California Buildings and structures in Santa Barbara, California Educational institutions established in 1974 1974 establishments in California Schools accredited by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges