The Chicago School is a private university with its main campus in Chicago, Illinois. Established in 1979, The Chicago School was primarily focused on the professional application of psychology. It currently has about 6,000 students across all campuses and online. The university offers more than 30 academic programs in professional fields such as psychology, business, health care, health services, education, counseling, and nursing.

History

The Chicago School was established in 1979. Initial plans for the school were made in 1977 and realized in January 1979 by the nonprofit Midwestern Psychology Development Foundation. The first classes were held in 1979 at 30 West Chicago Avenue, before moving in 1980 to the Fine Arts Building on Michigan Avenue. In 1986, it moved to Dearborn Station in Chicago's South Loop. In 2004, the school moved to its current location on the Chicago River at 325 N. Wells Street. The school expanded to the West Coast, adding three campuses in Southern California. The first out-of-state location was opened in downtown Los Angeles in the summer of 2008. The school announced a formal affiliation with the California Graduate Institute and its campuses in Westwood and Irvine in the fall of 2008, although the L.A. location did not receive accreditation until a full decade later in 2018. 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.

2012 Los Angeles Campus lawsuit, settlement, and accreditation

In 2012, a group of 40 students who had enrolled in the inaugural 2008 clinical psychology doctoral cohort at the Los Angeles campus sued the school alleging that they were misled and deceived by the school into attending a doctoral program that was not accredited by the American Psychological Association (APA). Students stated 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. A group of 26 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. The Los Angeles campus Clinical Psychology PsyD program obtained APA accreditation in 2018, two years after the fraud payout.

Academics

All branches of the Chicago School are accredited by the WASC Senior College and University Commission (WSCUC). The School Psychology doctoral (EdS) program in Chicago, Illinois, is approved by the Illinois State Board of Education. The Clinical Psychology doctoral (PsyD) program in Chicago, Illinois, is accredited by the American Psychological Association until 2023. The Clinical Psychology doctoral (PsyD) program in Washington, D.C., is accredited by the American Psychological Association until 2024. The Clinical Psychology doctoral (PsyD) program in Los Angeles, California, is accredited by the American Psychological Association until 2028. The Clinical Psychology doctoral (PsyD) program in Anaheim, California, is accredited by the American Psychological Association until 2031. The School Psychology doctoral (PsyD) program in Chicago, Illinois is accredited by the American Psychological Association until 2034. The Chicago School at Xavier University of Louisiana has been granted initial Accreditation on Contingency status through 2024 by the American Psychological Association (APA). The school is also an affiliate of the nonprofit The Community Solution Education System.

Campuses

Each campus is equipped with event spaces, at least one classroom, and a library. Locations can be found in the following cities:

The Community Solution Education System

In 2009, The Chicago School created the non-profit university system The Community Solution Education System (originally named TCS Education System). In subsequent years, several institutions joined The Community Solution in addition to the Chicago School itself:

Notable alumni