School of Psychology, Family, and Community
Welcome to the School of Psychology, Family, and Community (SPFC). Our baccalaureate, master's, and doctoral programs are designed to meet the exacting standards of our professional guilds bringing vital expressions of Christian faith to rigorous training, substantive research, and effective practice of psychological and therapeutic disciplines. In addition to comprehensive academic curricula, SPFC also sponsors a variety of clinical training, consulting and service programs — both on and off campus.
Giving Priorities
Undergraduate Student Scholarships: Psychology is consistently among the most sought-after majors by undergraduates at SPU. Your gift will help students acquire solid academic and experiential grounding in the theory, research, and practice of psychology and prepare them for myriad career and advanced degree paths.
Graduate Student Scholarships: All SPFC graduate programs meet the rigorous standards of their professional guilds, including national accreditation where it is available. Your gift will help support students become highly skilled clinical psychologists, marriage and family therapists, or industrial-organizational psychologists, who serve in their communities with integrity and character.
The Marriage and Family Therapy Graduate Scholarship: The MFT program provides high-quality education and training in a faithfully Christian context. The program is accredited by the Commission on Accreditation for Marriage and Family Therapy Education (COAMFTE) through the American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy (AAMFT). Your gift will support students in becoming therapists trained to provide holistic clinical care sensitive to psychological, biological, social, and spiritual aspects of individual and relational well-being.
Initiative for Individuals with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities: Your gift will support training and research opportunities for graduate students who seek to enhance the social and emotional well-being of individuals and their families affected by intellectual or other developmental disabilities.
Living Well Initiative for Individuals with Severe and Persistent Mental Illness: Your gift will support specialized training for undergraduate and graduate students pursuing mental health vocations. The training includes a fellowship program guided by faculty mentors, quarterly speaker series, student and faculty collaborative research, campus outreach, and community service — all focused on individuals and their families affected by severe and persistent mental illness.