The Chicago School of Professional Psychology

The Chicago School of Professional Psychology, known as "The Chicago School," is a graduate university specializing in psychology. It has over 4,300 students^[1] and offers more than 20 degree programs in psychology and related behavioral sciences. The school is a member of the National Council of Schools and Programs of Professional Psychology, which has recognized the school for its distinguished service and outstanding contributions to cultural diversity.

Accreditation

• All campuses of The Chicago School of Professional Psychology are accredited by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC) Senior College and University Commission (WSCUC).^[2]
• The School Psychology doctoral (EdS) program in Chicago, Illinois, is accredited by the Illinois State Board of Education.

American Psychological Association

• The Clinical Psychology doctoral (PsyD) program in Chicago, Illinois, is accredited by the American Psychological Association until 2023.^[3][4]
• The Clinical Psychology doctoral (PsyD) program in Washington, D.C., is accredited by the American Psychological Association until 2022.^[5]
• The Clinical Psychology doctoral (PsyD) program in Los Angeles, California, is accredited by the American Psychological Association until 2028.^[6]

Affiliation

The Chicago School of Professional Psychology is an affiliate of the nonprofit TCS Education System (TCS ES).^[7]

History

The Chicago School of Professional Psychology was established by practicing psychologists with the goal of providing high-quality professional psychology training in a not-for-profit setting. Initial plans for the school were made in 1977 and realized in January 1979 by the nonprofit Midwestern Psychology Development Foundation. The Chicago School of Professional Psychology began its first classes at temporary quarters located at 30 West Chicago Avenue before moving to the Fine Arts Building on Michigan Avenue in 1980. In 1986 The Chicago School moved to its next location, the historic Dearborn Station in Chicago’s South Loop. In 2004, the school found a new downtown home at 325 N. Wells Street. From its early days the school began to earn a reputation for being a leader in diversity and multicultural training. Classes such as Cultural Issues in Assessment and Intercultural Psychotherapy Laboratory began to appear in the school’s bulletin in the 1980s. In 1988, the school opened its first institute for diversity-related training, research, and events: the Center for Inter-Cultural Clinical Psychology. One of its original initiatives was a Cultural Impact Conference, which remains an annual fixture on campus. The center eventually evolved in 2005 to become the Center for Multicultural and Diversity Studies. The Chicago School’s innovative approach to diversity received recognition in 1998 with an Institutional Diversity Award bestowed by the National Council of Schools and Programs of Professional Psychology (NCSPP). NCSPP would again honor the school in 2005 with its Advocacy Award “in recognition of its outstanding commitment to advancing the attitude, skills, and knowledge of professional advocacy and public policy.”

The school expanded to the west coast with three campuses in Southern California. The first out-of-state location was opened in downtown Los Angeles in the summer of 2008.^[8] The school announced a formal affiliation with the California Graduate Institute and its campuses in Westwood and Irvine in the fall of 2008.^[9] Having developed from the psychoanalytically oriented clinical training at CGI, the Westwood campus maintained the psychoanalytic training model of its predecessor until it closed in the summer of 2014. CGI has now formally been incorporated into the Applied Clinical Psychology doctoral (PsyD) program where graduates obtain a specialization in psychoanalytic psychotherapy under the guidance of faculty from local psychoanalytic institutes and training clinics.^[10]

Campuses

East Coast

• Washington, D.C., Campus: The Chicago School's east coast campus in Washington, D.C., opened in summer 2010 three blocks from the White House at McPherson Square.

South

• New Orleans, Campus The Chicago School at Xavier University of Louisiana in New Orleans is located on the campus of Xavier University, a historically black university in Louisiana.

Midwest

• Chicago Campus:
  

  Downtown Chicago location
  The Chicago School’s downtown campus is located at 325 North Wells St. Chicago, IL 60654 - in Chicago’s River North neighborhood. The building itself opened in 1914 as a Chase and Sanborn Coffee warehouse and is one of the few remaining relics on the Chicago River of the city’s industrial era. The school expanded in early 2007 with new space opening across the street in the Merchandise Mart.

West Coast

• Irvine Campus:In addition to Los Angeles campus, The Chicago School's affiliation with CGI^[9] also incorporates a campus in Irvine, California. The California Graduate Institute of The Chicago School, at Irvine, is located next to UC Irvine.
• Los Angeles Campus: Located at 617 W. 7th St., the L.A. Campus site is located four blocks north of the Staples Center, near Pasadena, Santa Ana, and Santa Monica freeways, and one block from the 7th Street Metro Center.
  • Los Angeles Campus Lawsuit: The lawsuit, which was filed by students enrolled in the inaugural 2008 clinical psychology doctoral cohort at the Los Angeles campus, alleged that students were misled and deceived by the school into attending a doctoral program that was not accredited by the American Psychological Association. Students claim that they were offered admission to the Los Angeles campus after applying to the APA accredited Chicago campus doctoral program, while the school knowingly "downplayed" the fact that the Los Angeles campus had no clear path towards accreditation at the time that admission was offered. ^[11] Students subsequently filed a class-action lawsuit in 2014. In September 2016, the court found that students were not properly apprised as to the accreditation differences between the Chicago and the Los Angeles campus programs. The Chicago School settled the lawsuit for 11.2 million dollars. ^[12]The Los Angeles campus Clinical Psychology PsyD program obtained APA accreditation in 2018.

Fall 2014 student profile

• Total students: more than 4,300^[1]
• Average age: 32 years old
• Ethnicity
  • 50.6% White/Caucasian
  • 20.3% Black/African American
  • 13.8% Latino(a)/Hispanic
  • 5.5% Asian
  • 0.3% American Indian/Alaska Native
  • 0.4% Native Hawaiian/Other Pacific Islander
• Gender
  • Female: 80%
  • Male: 20%^[1]

Notes

External links

• School website
• The Chicago School Reviews at ChicagoSchoolReviews.com
• The Chicago School Reviews at Indeed
• The Chicago School Reviews at Yelp
• 4ICU Profile of The Chicago School
• The Chicago School of Professional Psychology Reviews LA

Coordinates: 41°53′18″N 87°38′02″W / 41.888302°N 87.633767°W / 41.888302; -87.633767