The Chicago School of Professional Psychology

The Chicago School of Professional Psychology
Established	1979
Type	Private, Not-for-Profit
Endowment	$4.4 million (Fall 2008)
President	Dr. Michele Nealon-Woods
Academic staff	220 Department, Administrative, and Affiliate Faculty (Spring 2009)
Undergraduates	none
Postgraduates	2,807 (Summer 2010)
Location	Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
Campus	Chicago, Illinois; Los Angeles, California; Westwood, Los Angeles, California; Irvine, California; Washington, D.C.
Website	thechicagoschool.edu

The Chicago School of Professional Psychology, known as "The Chicago School," is a graduate university specializing in psychology. With nearly 3,000 students and 1,500 graduates, it is the nation’s largest not-for-profit graduate school dedicated to psychology and behavioral sciences. The school is an active member of the National Council of Schools and Programs of Professional Psychology. Aside from the Chicago Campus, the other campuses are not American Psychological Association-accredited.

Institutional Learning Goals

The institutional learning goals for students completing degree programs at The Chicago School are:

• Scholarship: Using scientific research and theory to inform their practices and contribute to the body of work extending the reach of their specialties in professional psychology;

• Diversity: Applying theoretical and practical knowledge about ethnic, racial, gender, sexual, cultural and religious, age, and disability differences in their professional work;

• Professional Behavior: Functioning in a professional and ethical manner in classroom, off-site training, and workplace settings;

• Professional Practice: Conducting assessments, develop appropriate interventions, and implement interventions in their specialty area of professional psychology.

History

The Chicago School 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 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, following an extensive search, 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. The school expanded to the west coast in 2008 with three campuses in Southern California. It opened its first out-of-state location in downtown Los Angeles, Calif., in the summer. The school announced a formal affiliation in fall 2008 with the California Graduate Institute and its campuses in Westwood and Irvine. The school opened an east coast campus in July 2010 at McPherson Square in Washington, D.C.

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.”

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.

Midwest

• Chicago Campus:
  

  

  Downtown Chicago location
  The Chicago School’s downtown campus is located at 325 N. Wells Street 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.

• University Center of Lake County (Grayslake, Ill.): The Chicago School is offering blended-versions—on campus and online—of its School Psychology and Counseling programs at the University Center of Lake County, a 91,000-square-foot (8,500 m²) facility located in Grayslake, Ill.

West Coast

• Irvine Campus:In addition to Westwood, The Chicago School's affiliation with CGI 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 the Pasadena, Santa Ana, and Santa Monica freeways, and one block from the 7th Street Metro Center. Occupying the entire eighth floor of a 12-story building, the L.A. Campus is immediately adjacent to LA's skid row.

• Westwood Campus: In fall 2008, The Chicago School of Professional Psychology entered into a formal alliance with California Graduate Institute (CGI). The Chicago School, Westwood Campus, is located in the center of Westwood Village next to the UCLA campus.

Fall 2010 Student Profile

• Total students: 4,852
• Average age: 26.4
• Average student loan debt prior to enrollment: $25,228
• Average student loan debt after graduation: $296,080

Race

• 31.3% African American
• 0.3% American Indian/Alaskan
• 3.1% Asian/Pacific
• 14.6% Latino(a)/Hispanic
• 34.2% White/Caucasian
• 1.7% Two or more races
• 1.7% International
• 15.4% Not Reported

Gender

• Male: 20%
• Female: 80%

External links

• School website