Pacific Oaks College Reviews

  • 35 Reviews
  • Pasadena (CA)
  • Annual Tuition: $11,692
75% of 35 students said this degree improved their career prospects
86% of 35 students said they would recommend this school to others
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Student & Graduate Reviews

Barbara B. King
  • Reviewed: 9/2/2023
  • Degree: Human Services
"I had a great learning experience attending Pacific Oaks College, graduate of 1996 in Human Development. The campus was located then, on Westmoreland Place, in an old Pasadena house which was completely charming. My teachers were amazing. We had low class enrollment (10 to 15 students in each class), which allowed us to get the attention we needed for discussions and critical thinking. I really liked the fact that you didn't have to take tests. I learned so much about social justice that I have been practicing throughout the rest of my life both in professional and personal settings. They instilled in me the courage to stand up for what is just and fair in all settings and I have made a small difference. I enjoyed the experiential learning but realized that one must be highly adaptable in each unique work setting in order to be a success. I will always treasure my time at Pacific Oaks and completely recommend this school for others. Thank you so much!!!"
Former Education Student
  • Reviewed: 6/6/2023
  • Degree: Education
"Do not attend the school for your credential. It is very expensive and they do not help you find a job afterwards. Also, as a former student, the registrars office is so rude, unhelpful, and uncaring. They make you wait forever have a copy of your transcripts sent to a school to clear your teaching credential. If you want to save money and be treated with dignity, choose another school."
Disappointedly Done
  • Reviewed: 1/30/2023
  • Degree: Human Services
"The Human Development program is a shame. Online was the worse nightmare ever. It was a made up degree with repetitive classes. Zero support with teaching instruction on thesis process. They lack professionalism, communication, and willingness to help they’re master program student achieve and complete the entire program. They delay delay delay play ping pong with the students to throw them in continuation extension courses. Do not recommend this program or experience for anyone. Think twice before you sign up to this program."
Katie Hughes
  • Reviewed: 2/19/2021
  • Degree: Teaching
"If you are looking for advisors who will help you through school and understand the requirements for your degree do not go here. I attended this school for three years. First the school offered me a payment plan that I did not know about till later- if I took only a certain amount of credits my payment for each month would have been manageable but my advisor assigned me more credits. Also I was in the credential program and not to my knowledge you are supposed to student teach ( I knew that) but it had to be at a public school. I was already working and had a full time job at a private school. They wanted me to basically quit for two months to student teach with no pay. When I found this out, I stopped going to the school and requested to be withdrawn. And they made me pay for the tuition when I could not finish the schooling and they did not tell me till later that I had to withdraw at a certain time. Keep in mind I did not know I would have to stop going to Pacific Oaks because of student teaching so of course I missed the deadline. Their advisory staff is terrible. Their financial aid and registrars office do not talk to you in a timely manner. I tried to talk to them about this issue and it took 4 months to handle this issue. It is still not handled. I received nothing but headaches from this school and their classes were just sub par."
Thursday Miquel Herdman
  • Reviewed: 11/6/2019
  • Degree: Human Services
"I attended Pacific Oaks college 2017-2019. It was the most lonely and stressful thing of my educational experience. I regret wasting my time with the Marxists ideology and the lack of attention I received from the administration there. If you wish to be ignored, and to have to deal with questionable accounting with a good dose of fake social justice, go to Pacific Oaks college. It is no longer affiliated with the society of Friends (Quakers) and it shows. Horrible experience and an unjust bill."
USC
  • Reviewed: 8/26/2018
  • Degree: Early Childhood Education
"My time at Pacific Oaks was great however it did have its ups and downs. I enjoyed how we didn't have to take test we just had to make a lot of powerpoints. I love the teachers that I had they had a lot of knowledge and were there to answer a lot of the questions that I had. I was able to meet a lot of new people, and my classmates were just as helpful as the teachers. One thing that I didn't like was how often people were leaving this school and my counselor. I had a hard time getting my questions answered by the counselor and I had to go above and beyond to make sure someone was going to answer me. The admin team here takes a lot of vacations and sometimes I had to wait weeks for things to get solved, and that was incredibly frustrating. I also had to advocate for myself while attending this school occasionally it took me to speak to the dean of the school for someone to respond to my email. It was a great experience, and the setting is lovely I mean I probably had ten others in my class. They focus on having smaller settings. I also didn't like how they would let you out of class so late sometimes I wouldn't get home until 10:30 pm and that's only because I live 10 minutes away. Other than that it's a family type of school and I liked it because I had no test to take."
Alejandro
  • Reviewed: 2/19/2017
  • Degree: Marriage & Family Therapy
"This school has a positive learning environment with in-class discussions that helped us learn from our experiences. This school offers a diverse and helpful staff of professors. This school offers a flexible class schedule that allows full-time working adults, like myself, to pursui an education"
Amber H. Taylor
  • Reviewed: 1/11/2017
  • Degree: Early Childhood Education
"Pacific Oaks offers specialized instruction of diversified topics. I was able to earn both my dual teaching credentials and my BA in Early Childhood Education simultaneously. Curriculum was less academic-content than it was behavioral content. I am able to work in classrooms with a range of mild-moderate needs because of the instruction I received at Pacific Oaks."
Melissa
  • Reviewed: 9/22/2016
  • Degree: Human Services
"Pacific Oaks is a unique institution that offers a rich and holistic education that is geared toward adult professionals returning to school. The classes I took at PO were interesting and informative as well as interactive and designed to help students internalize concepts by using theories to apply to our own life experiences. I learned so much about the importance of context and perspective, and I always felt supported and challenged by the fantastic professors. I really enjoyed attending this school!"
StudiousLena
  • Reviewed: 8/23/2016
  • Degree: Marriage & Family Therapy
"Pacific Oaks has been a great experience! Instructors are dedicated and experienced. What I appreciate the most is how the order of classes the school has scheduled each semester has purpose! They all correlate with one another, making the learning experience all the greater."
Robert Garcia
  • Reviewed: 8/9/2016
  • Degree: Human Services
"My experience at Pacific Oaks College has been really wonderful. The professors are very great at what they do. My best experience was when I faced some difficult times. The professors were there to assist me and help me get through any problem I had. I also loved learning from my classmates. All in all my experience was really great and I would highly encourage anyone to pursue a degree at Pacific Oaks College. Also, their online classes are really great as well too."
Sesiah Aguirre
  • Reviewed: 7/17/2015
  • Degree: Marriage & Family Therapy
"This school is a social justice school and they promote taking action. The pros about the program is that it has a specialization in trauma. The faculty is always available and willing to assist you in anyway they can. The faculty has your best interest in mind.The program is a cohort style program which makes it much easier to get through the program. The con is that the specialization in trauma is fairly new so they are still trying to figure a few things out. They are not COAAMFT accredited. COAAMFT is a national organization that has minimal impact in California but does affect VA internships in that you must come from an accredited COAAMFT school to get your hours at one. There are only two in California but Pacific Oaks isn’t one of them. This means that one would not be able to do their internship at a VA hospital or clinic."
Lamar Whaley
  • Reviewed: 4/27/2015
  • Degree: Marriage & Family Therapy
"The classes at Pacific Oaks is more of discussion based setting between students and professors, instead of a lecture setting in which the professor lectures and students just listen. The classes encourage, motivate, and challenge students to learn about themselves, as well as to discover their fears, biases, etc and how to overcome them in order to become effective therapists. As of now i do not have any cons about Pacific Oaks or the program that I am in."
Steven Lenoir
  • Reviewed: 1/24/2015
  • Degree: Counseling
"Exceptional support from the staff and a very diverse campus. I love my program at Pacific Oaks College."
Jazmin Lopez
  • Reviewed: 1/20/2015
  • Degree: Psychology
"The atmosphere at Pacific Oaks College can not be found anywhere else. It can not compare to any other campus. You walk into a safe environment that embraces all, and supports you from day one. I have never been more satisfied with the challenging level of academia and support from faculty and staff."
Karen Streeter
  • Reviewed: 9/1/2014
  • Degree: Marriage & Family Therapy
"Pacific Oaks is a great place to go to school. True, this will never be the great research school like other larger programs. However, the egalitarian classroom style in which everyone has a voice in discussions and the excellent professors with years of experience in their field make this a great program to learn how to be a good clinician in the challenging field of mental health."
Dezerri Black
  • Reviewed: 8/5/2014
  • Degree: Marriage & Family Therapy
"I love the experiential learning process that happens at Pacific Oaks. It is a school that honors and encourages students real life experiences. The school invites us to utilize our real life experiences while applying them to our education goals. Our school also fosters communication and discussion between instructors and students. I cannot say enough great things about Pacific Oaks."
Adeela Northern
  • Reviewed: 7/7/2014
  • Degree: Marriage & Family Therapy
"This is good school, but it is not your traditional school so it is missing the social aspect. Also, they keep raising the tuition so the amount of money that you receive back from refund is not enough to live off of. This should be considered when choosing to attend this school. Lastly, there are lacking organization on some aspects, some things are still being established so it could seem as though you are getting the run around, which is frustrating. The quality of education in the classroom is incomparable and the network that is established in from this program is great."
Deniss Cantor
  • Reviewed: 6/26/2014
  • Degree: Psychology
"Pacific Oaks has a wonderful grad program focused on personal growth and academic exellence. The faculty is supportive, friendly, and always willing to help. The classes are more discussion-oriented and theres always time to get questions answered. It is a comuter school so it allows time for a full-time job, family, and other responsibilities."
Jennifer Egelski
  • Reviewed: 4/16/2014
  • Degree: Marriage & Family Therapy
"Pacific Oaks College offers a quality education and the opportunity for personal growth while learning with a diverse student population."