Alliant International University

I thought I would respond to Richard’s comment on the Clinical PhD program. I don’t know Richard personally, so I can’t (and wouldn’t) comment on why he was dismissed. However, I don’t see much about the program itself here, so it seems reasonable to describe it.
The PhD program at AIU is unusual in a way that many of us value highly. The professors are chosen from among professionals who are willing to highlight both clinical work and research in their own professional lives. Milton Brown, for instance, teaches Psychopathology and runs a clinic for borderline personality disorder patients, and publishes on BPD and self mutilation. Richard Gevirtz teaches mind/​body courses and runs a biofeedback clinic (treating, for instance, anxious kids with stomach aches) and publishes on psychophysiology. Donald Viglione teaches Assessment, runs an assessment center, and publishes on Rorschach evaluation. Alan Lincoln teaches intellectual assessment, runs a center for autism treatment and assessment, and publishes on understanding autism. Thus, we are different from many mainstream universities in that our faculty are not living on grants, for the most part, and are not «pure» researchers. Further, we are different from many of the professional schools, where faculty tend not to publish widely or value the academic side of the discipline. Our students, for the most part, want varied lives that combine clinical and research skills.
As Richard states, we do dismiss people who receive multiple C’s and D’s in academic courses, and although I agree with his general argument that grades are not everything, they do mean something here. The quantitative courses he references are taught in a competency based manner, with multiple methods of assessment (take homes and in class, multiple choice and essay, for example) and plenty of access to tutors and graduate assistants. Would you want to graduate from a place that did not dismiss those who could not meet its standards? That said, the quantitative courses, although difficult, are among the most highly evaluated courses in the curriculum. We hope to graduate people who not only know the most up to date methods of treatment, but also can understand the literature, stand up to cross-​examination regarding the validity of a test, and recognize and differentiate science from pseudo-​science.
If you are in the area, or are going to be, and want to check out the institution, I would suggest that you write the admissions department. It is often possible to sit in on a class, talk to present or former students, see syllabi, and check out ongoing research teams. Unilocal reviews might be helpful, but I suggest that you see for yourself.

I was just dismissed from Alliant’s Clinical Psych PhD program, for having four less than credit grades; C, two C+‘s, and a D+. Having this many less than credit grades and continuing on in the program is not uncommon. Supposedly there is someone in the program with 18 C’s, that’s right 18. A friend of mine who had 5 C’s and a D is still there. One of my C’s should have been a B but a professor screwed me over. I made up the D and when I was dismissed had a GPA well above 3.00. All of my less than credit grades were in the quantitative portion of the curriculum which I struggle with because of dyslexia. I appealed the BS C I received and lost the appeal (this professor told me verbally I had a solid B). I wrote a 22 page dismissal appeal claiming, I believe proving, bias and lost that appeal as well. Now I have 68 units and no Master’s degree and a $ 100,000 grand in debt.
While in the appeals process I was strongly urged to get an attorney because the person speaking to me was in a position to know I was being screwed over. During the appeals process I didn’t hang my head in shame, I let just about everyone know I was on dismissal status. I let them know because I was good enough to be there and had worked my butt off. Not only that I was better suited, in terms of temperament and aptitude, than some students who are still there and have great GPA’s. Being a competent psychologist is much more than grades but they don’t appear to care about that. What they care about is that students fit the Alliant mold, diversity my butt. I was informed by a faculty member that I wasn’t liked by some faculty and was being pushed out of the program because I didn’t fit the Alliant mold. The University used my weakness to harm me by dismissing me when the next step was transitioning into the dissertation process.
Because I was so vocal about being on dismissal status I discovered that several other students in the PhD program were going through the same thing. I met with some of those students and all are joining me in a class action lawsuit against the University. If you are interested in joining our suit or know someone who might be you may contact me, Richard, at
. The reason that Alliant is pulling this kind of crap is because, to my knowledge, no one has stood up to them. I believe my age had a lot to do with my dismissal as well, I feel I was discriminated against on the basis of age. I am well into midlife; I’m not a young adult anymore, thus I brought a lot to the table in terms of life experience. This quality was not appreciated, instead it was viewed as an obstacle to cramming me into the Alliant mold. I have heard that some PsyD students have experienced the same things I have discussed; you may also join us in our class action.
Finally diversity is having those from differing backgrounds bring their unique experience of life to the table. It’s not cramming someone into a specific mold, professional development is about integrating who you are into a new career and its associated demands. If you are different I don’t recommend Alliant. A common thread among all of us involved in this suit is that we are unique. Unique people who struggle at the San Diego campus seem to be pushed out of the program or as the PhD faculty member precisely stated «guided out of the program». Guided out with no thought to the repercussions to each student who is discharged. I’m not saying there aren’t situations in which someone should be discharged but that should be the extraordinarily rare exception. If you are accepted into the school it is implied that you belong there and a process of mentorship begins. Getting a PhD is not easy and virtually no one believes that it is. As far as I am concerned Alliant is a petty political environment; a culture of inflated egos. That notwithstanding, there are some great professors their; good human beings that care about their students. Unfortunately they are outnumbered by their lesser counterparts.

Do NOT go to this school unless you absolutely have to.
Why?
I ended up attending Alliant for a year because it was so impossible to get into schools in Southern California. UCSD, USD, & SDSU were all completely full and had waitlists for majors (some of them years long). So, as a psychology major, I heard about Alliant and decided to join their psychology program. Big mistake.
First of all, if you plan on going to grad school at anywhere other than Alliant, do NOT go here. Other institutions do not respect this school whatsoever, and the likelihood of an Alliant graduate getting into grad school at any reputable location is close to none. I am so lucky that I found this out before wasting all of my undergraduate education at this hole.
Second, the program is a mess. Classes are way longer than they should be (4 hours and 45 minutes per class– which is not the case for once a week classes anywhere else in California), and miserable in old, dusty, and moldy rooms (oh, and did I mention that the campus is completely run down?). The director of the program is unbelievably egotistical and will be of no help to you at all throughout your education. She can, and has, made many student’s lives a living hell while attending this program. Most classwork is not taken seriously, will change at random, and some teachers don’t even show up to class (this happened to me several times in my year here). You also have teachers that come and go who, you find out later, aren’t even teachers at all! YES. This actually happens here.
Oh, and to top it off… It is insanely overpriced for what it is. Over $ 20k per year. I paid ¹⁄₃ of this to attend a community college that put this place to absolute shame.
The one star is only for some of the great teachers that I had here. Blumberg, Savarese, Farrow, and a few others were great and stood out in the midst of a total mess.
At the end of the day, and after having attended LMU after finally escaping this place, I cannot emphasize this enough: go to community college and work your way to a better school. You will be so much happier and will have spent your money so wisely.
I promise.

As a graduate from this school, it is truly an excellent school that provides a well-​rounded and academically excellent education. A bit expensive, but the education is invaluable!

2 stars because some of the professors are good. However, I’ve had some pretty bad ones, too. How many graduate professors have you watch black & white videos all semester, then arbitrarily hand out grades without any papers or objective tests?
The administration is terrible… beyond terrible. No advance warnings about deadlines but they might tell you after the fact that you were supposed to know you needed to do A & B before signing up for classes or choosing an internship site. I have recently been given the run-​around for 3 weeks while I tried ordering my transcripts to sit for an exam! To me, that’s unacceptable. No one knows what’s going on there, it’s pretty sad…& no wonder they’re in so much debt!

this school SUCKS! the program I’m in (School Psych at HSOE) is an absolute joke… Not to mention our advisor fell off the planet in January and has not been heard of since… we met with the dean and were basically told «we’ll see what we can do». which means nothing!
Also, financial aid and student business services are both FULL of unprofessional, rude and incompetent people! They either give you the run around, can’t help you or give you misinformation and then make you pay the consequences!
I was disenrolled — two weeks shy of the final program exam — because I had no way to pay them $ 2900 (or even a 3^rd of it). When they said in the first place that I could defer that fee to fall of my internship year… Only to find out that the policy had changed…
Their email and Moodle systems are always down … it takes days to get answers from anyone and half the time the faculty doesn’t know what’s going on anyway…
this is a sad excuse for a university… My program can’t even get national accreditation because our advisor does such a crappy job… I will NOT recommend this university to ANYONE and I will post this on every media outlet I can… you SUCK Alliant!

I was impressed by this school. It does seem a bit expensive, but now a days what school isn’t right? (UC or CSU) It is a bit hidden, great weather!

My boyfriend & his pals love it at the SolCity SportCenter. I suppose. It’s definitely huge, but the downside of it is that it’s freezing cold at night, so if you’re not there to get active, make sure you wear something warm. The lighting is somewhat okay, but the benches to watch basketball games are convenient & easy to watch from. I noticed that the bathrooms have a really grody odor, but maybe because I’m usually there to watch the night basketball leagues. Anyway, great environment overall.

great place for youth basketball games and tournaments!

There’s nothing wrong with this school. If you’re a working adult it will be a perfect fit for you. Tuition is pricey but what do you expect?! There are some great professors out there.