San Francisco Online PsyD Program: A Practitioner Program

San Francisco Online PsyD Program: A Practitioner Program

The Online PsyD program at the San Francisco campus has full accreditation from the Committee on Accreditation of the American Psychological Association. It is a practitioner program and was initiated in the fall of 1991. The goal of the program is to educate professional clinical psychologists who bring critical thinking and active problem solving skills to bear on human problems. Students online are educated and trained to be able to intervene effectively using multiple methods of assessment and intervention, working with diverse populations, across many settings, and in changing and evolving contexts.

Beginning in the first year, professional training placements are required to integrate classroom learning with practical experience. In the second-year Online PsyD students begin work on their clinical dissertations. Passing all preliminary examination subtests is required for advancement to doctoral candidacy. While continuing to integrate the skills and knowledge acquired in the first two years, students in the third year begin to focus more intensively on professional skills and more advanced professional training experiences. Also work on the PsyD clinical dissertation proceeds.

The Online PsyD dissertation is meant to demonstrate the student's ability to think critically about clinical and social issues and to make appropriate use of scientific knowledge and psychological research in professional practice. The dissertation may be an interpretive study involving a synthesis and analysis of existing literature relevant to a clinical problem and requiring the development of the student's own ideas as to how the existing knowledge can be used to enhance clinical work. Other types of clinical dissertations include case studies, surveys, program evaluations, educational or clinical interventions, quantitative studies and correlational studies on clinical variables. The program is designed to allow students to complete the dissertation in the third year prior to beginning the fourth year internship.

The standard Online PsyD curriculum is four years, but students may extend their time to take additional courses, complete research work, or spread their internship over two years. Approximately 35% complete the program in four years, while 65% elect to extend their education and training to five or more years.

American Psychological Association office of Program Consultation and Accreditation:
750 First Street, N.E.
Washington DC 20002-4242
Phone: 202-336-5979

Ablut Alliant International University

Alliant International University focuses on preparing students for professional careers in the applied social sciences. Our faculty, students and alumni are committed to making an impact on society and to results that make a difference in the lives of individuals, couples, families, schools, organizations, companies, and nations.

Our institution applies scholarship to solve social problems and has always had an abiding concern for diversity and internationalism.

Formed in July 2001 by the combination of the California School of Professional Psychology (CSPP) and United States International University (USIU), Alliant is an independent, not-for-profit institution of higher education with a history distinguished by innovation.

Our Campuses
Alliant offers students a choice of six California campuses: Fresno, Irvine, Los Angeles, Sacramento, San Diego, and San Francisco.

Alliant also includes a Mexico City Campus. Alliant Mexico is distinguished by being the only university in Mexico authorized by law to offer all of its programs in English. Alliant Mexico is also the only university in Mexico all of whose programs are accredited by an American accrediting agency. Alliant also runs pioneering programs for psychologists in Tokyo, Japan and attracts professionals from across the US to its on-line program in psychopharmacology.

The Alliant Family of Schools
The Alliant family is composed of three schools that span its multiple campuses:

the California School of Professional Psychology (CSPP)
the Graduate School of Education, (GSOE) and
the Marshall Goldsmith School of Management (MGSM)
Alliant Centers
The Alliant family includes two young and growing educational "centers" that are also present on multiple campuses. Those centers are:

the Center for Undergraduate Education, (CUE) runs a degree-completion program for students in the last two years of their bachelor's degrees.
the Center for Forensic Studies (CFS).
Our Educational Alliance
Cooperative Undergraduate Programs: Alliant's Center for Undergraduate Education also runs cooperative degrees and programs with Ohlone College in the San Francisco Bay Area, with Southwestern Community College and the Sweetwater Union High School District near San Diego.

To ensure that students are ready to enroll after the first two undergrad years, Alliant has has developed “articulation” agreements with 30 community colleges. The agreements make sure that the courses at Alliant and the community colleges match up and that students don’t loose credit with courses that don’t count toward CUE enrollment. Alliant has agreements with Mesa College, Grossmont Cuyamaca Community College District and Imperial Valley College in the San Diego area.

Graduate Management Programs: Presidio School of Management in San Francisco, which offers programs in sustainable management, is part of Alliant and shares our accreditation.