BY ALLISON LEVITSKY
Daily Post Staff Writer
A small psychology and counseling school has made national news after one of its professors, Christine Blasey Ford, accused Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh of sexually assaulting her when they were in high school — leaving some to ask: what’s Palo Alto University?
Maureen O’Connor, who left the City University of New York to become the president of Palo Alto University in 2016, called the school a “hidden gem.”
“I thought this is an amazing, specialized, deep and broad university in a very important area, and more people need to know about it,” O’Connor told the Post. “I think it’s been known for a long time for its training at the doctoral level.”
O’Connor said the school had been “keeping our faculty and students focused on their education,” amid the distraction of Ford’s allegation. Ford is a full-time biostatistician and research scientist who teaches psychology doctoral students.
O’Connor declined to comment further about Ford, who has co-written more than 50 books and publications on topics including post-traumatic growth after the 9/11 terrorist attacks, acupuncture as a treatment for depression during pregnancy and the relationship between childhood abuse and adult depression.
Originally had a different name
The school was founded in 1975 as the Pacific Graduate School of Psychology after a number of universities, including Stanford, stopped training doctoral students in clinical psychology.
“There were very few options in the Bay Area,” O’Connor said, explaining that the school’s founding was driven by a small group of students concerned by the lack of options.
“As the university has evolved, we now have a number of faculty who also do amazing work and research,” O’Connor said. “At the beginning, it really was focused on producing well-trained clinical psychologists.”
Among the school’s faculty members are Paul Marcille, the current president of the California Psychology Association.
The school has a campus at 1791 Arastradero Road, operates a clinic campus in an office building at 5150 El Camino Real in Los Altos and teaches some classes at De Anza College in Cupertino.
About the students
In 2009, the school reincorporated as Palo Alto University and started accepting undergraduate transfer students from Foothill and De Anza colleges. Last year, the school enrolled 134 undergrads in two majors: business psychology and psychology and social action.
Of 1,152 total students, 473 are seeking a Ph.D. in clinical psychology and 326 are studying for master’s degrees in counseling.
More than 170 are studying for psychology doctorates in a consortium with Stanford, and 45 are seeking master’s degrees in psychology. Almost 850 attend classes on campus while 253 are taking classes online, with 50 in a residential-online hybrid program.
Graduation rates are 79% for undergrads, 66% for master’s students and 77% for doctoral students.
The student body is 79% women and 46% of its undergraduates qualify for the Pell Grant.
In 2015, $30.6 million of the school’s $32.3 million budget came from tuition, according to the university’s tax forms.
I SAY THE BS OF LEAVING HOME DUE TO HARASSMENT & DEATH THREATS HAVE TO BE PROVEN-A VERY CONVENIENT PHRASE TO USE TO PROVE HER POINT. SHE HAS A WELL THOUGHT OUT STRATEGY TO GET HER 15 MIN OF FAME-SHE HAS WROTE 50 BOOKS ON VARIOUS SUBJECTS & MUST HAVE A VERY CREATIVE MIND.HER TESTIMONY DISPLAYED A NAIVE WOMAN-SOFT & TIMID- I SAY SHE’S A FAKE,PHONY & A FRAUD-HER PREZ @PALO ALTO WOULDN’T COMMENT ON C.B. FORD-WHAT DOES THAT SAY? REVENGE IS ON HER MIND-KAVANAUGH’S MOTHER WAS A JUDGE WHO FORECLOSED ON FORD’S PARENTS HOME YEARS AGO
What a fraud Christine Ford is. Like most counselors, psychologists and psychiatrist they are frauds. Those of you in that profession use the vulnerable to find out about yourself. Ford is a puppet for the leftist party. Her accusations against a quality man are sickening to say the least. You are the person who need to be investigated by the FBI. I feel sorry for you because you exposed yourself as a liar and a fraud and you have nowhere to go except down. I hope you will ask God for forgiveness for falsely slandering a good man, Judge Kavanaugh.
C B Ford is a great actress.
Like Melanie Griffith or Meg Ryan?
Give ‘er an Emmie!
#MAGA
Does this school not have a single recording of a Blasey-Ford lecture or presentation from all of her teaching and symposium days to see if she actually uses that squeaky, mousy, timid persona in real life?
…well, if ya REALLY wanna know, ask her students- GO TO the facility…
I was wondering the same thing.
Yes. I agree. I’ve been looking for podcast or video lectures and have found none.
People don’t understand that it’s NOT a simply case of we don’t believe her. NOTHING she has stated has been verified. Yes she has 2 doors but the second door was put on an additional master bedroom so it could be rented out. The permit for those renovations was applied for in 2008, not 2012. No one she named verifies her story and one admitted to being pressured to change her story. She lied about flying. The evidence of this story being false is more than a shred of truth. And why she file charges with the police when they said they would do a thorough investigation and laws at the time of the act would apply. Once it came this far, why not? Because there is no evidence. Every time I’m in a grocery store line I see all these magazines with Hollywood elites on the cover and crazy headlines. Should I start believing everything I see regardless of the facts?? I guess Hollywood doesn’t really care what one person thinks. But I’m sure there’s been a time or two that some falsehood hit them hard. They should remember that how that felt. I believe stories without actual proof but not stories where your proof gets debunked. I’m blown away by people I would have assumed intelligent that are blatantly disregarding the facts here.
Palo Alto University has wiped all of her videos off if their site. They knew people would quesyion her squeaky voice, so they took it all down. Just another point proving this was all a setup. There’s no way that Ford talked like that in class or NO ONE would have taken her class. Palo Alto University is as fraudulent as Ford herself!!! Shame in all of you, you are disgusting!!