California Baptist University MFT Program: Comprehensive Profile and Student Fit Analysis

California Baptist University is one of 71 BBS-approved MFT programs in California. Compare all 71 in our directory. Program data collected April 2026 from publicly available sources including the CBU MS in Counseling Psychology program page, the CBU application requirements page, the CBU online program page, the CBU accreditation page, the CBU Division of Psychology page, and BBS records. Prospective students should verify all details directly with the program before applying.

Student Outcomes

Cost and Regional Pay

Approximate placement of this program’s total cost (about $53,000 (standard track), tuition only) against the directory’s lowest and highest published totals.

Estimated total tuition: approximately $52,900 in tuition for the standard 63-unit LMFT track (about $839 per unit for 2025-2026); dual LMFT/LPCC and concentration tracks add units and cost.

Regional pay context: In the Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario (Inland Empire) area, marriage and family therapists earn a median of about $68,570 per year (mean about $75,210), with the middle half earning roughly $48,090 to $95,020 (BLS OEWS, May 2025). These figures cover all marriage and family therapists in the area at all experience levels, not this program's graduates. For more, see our Inland Empire LMFT salary guide.

Schedule and Format Details

On-Campus Format: Evening classes typically meet Monday through Thursday, with some Saturday sessions depending on the term. The schedule is designed to accommodate students who work during the day.

Online Format: The online MS in Counseling Psychology combines synchronous and asynchronous coursework. Clinical practicum hours must still be completed in person at approved placement sites.

Pacing Options: Students may complete the program in 2 years full-time, 3 years at a moderate pace, or 4 years part-time, per the program page.

Clinical Training and Fieldwork

Clinical Hours: Specific direct client contact, relational, and supervision hour totals are not itemized on the program's public pages. The program states that clinical training complies with California BBS educational requirements for LMFT licensure. Students should request current fieldwork requirements directly from the program.

Training Clinic: Not publicly listed as a dedicated in-house MFT training clinic. Practicum is completed at approved community partner sites.

Practicum Arrangement: The program states it maintains over 100 established relationships with partner organizations spanning community mental health, school-based, church-based, and other clinical settings. Each placement is pre-approved by the department to meet BBS and CBU standards, and students are supervised by licensed clinicians at the site.

Personal Psychotherapy Requirement: Required. Per the CBU Counseling Psychology courses page, students must complete either 24 hours of individual psychotherapy or 50 hours of group psychotherapy with a licensed psychotherapist or a registered associate. The therapy must be completed outside the campus community, and students may not see any therapist who has a teaching relationship with California Baptist University.

Curriculum Structure

The curriculum is designed around CBU's faith-integrated approach to counseling psychology, per the CBU MS in Counseling Psychology page:

Core Coursework: Counseling theory and practice, marriage and family therapy, human development, multicultural counseling, assessment, psychopathology, law and ethics, and research methods, taught with an explicit faith-integration framework.

Fieldwork Sequence: Practicum I (PSY555) and Practicum II (PSY570) provide supervised clinical experience, with additional supervision available through PSY534.

Culminating Requirements

Program materials reference a comprehensive examination as the culminating requirement, typically taken concurrently with practicum during the final year of the program. A thesis or portfolio is not listed as a required culminating component on the program's public pages. The specific structure and scheduling of the comprehensive examination is not publicly itemized; students should confirm current culminating requirements directly with the program.

Application Process

Application Deadlines: CBU operates on rolling admissions with priority and standard deadlines for each term. Fall: priority May 15, standard August 1. Spring: priority November 1, standard December 1. Summer: priority March 1, standard April 1. Admissions decisions are typically made within 5 to 10 business days of a completed application.

Start Terms: Fall, Spring, and Summer.

GPA Requirement: Minimum 2.75 cumulative GPA on a 4.0 scale, or 2.75 in the last 60 to 90 units. Applicants with lower GPAs may be considered with additional materials.

Prerequisites: General Psychology (preferred) or Life Span Development, completed with a grade of C or better, prior to or during the first semester of graduate enrollment. A psychology undergraduate degree is preferred but not required.

Application Components: Graduate application with a $45 fee, official transcripts from a regionally accredited institution, documentation of minimum GPA, and either a 500-word statement of purpose addressing educational goals and program fit or a virtual/in-person interview covering the same topics. Additional materials may be requested at the program's discretion.

Interview: Optional but recommended. Applicants may substitute a 500-word statement of purpose in place of the interview, or vice versa.

Concentrations and Specializations

Core MFT Track: The default pathway within the MS in Counseling Psychology, aligned with California BBS educational requirements for LMFT licensure.

LPCC Pathway: Students may complete additional coursework and fieldwork to qualify for LPCC or dual LMFT/LPCC licensure.

Forensic Psychology Concentration: An optional concentration adding approximately 18 units for students interested in forensic practice.

Dual Degree Options: Students may pursue a dual degree combining the MS in Counseling Psychology with the MA in Counseling Ministry (for integrated clinical and congregational practice) or the MS in Sport and Performance Psychology.

What This Program Says About Itself

• Per the CBU MS in Counseling Psychology page, the program integrates counseling theory and Christian faith, with faculty teaching from a biblically rooted perspective.
• The program describes itself as one of CBU's oldest and largest graduate programs, having trained counselors for more than 40 years.
• The program states it maintains over 100 established partnerships with clinical placement sites spanning community mental health, school-based, church-based, and other settings.
• Multiple pacing options (2, 3, or 4 years) and both on-campus and online formats are offered to accommodate different student needs.
• Optional concentrations and dual-degree pathways (Forensic Psychology, Counseling Ministry, Sport and Performance Psychology) allow students to extend their training in specific directions.

This Program May Be a Good Fit For

Students who want explicit Christian faith integration in their clinical training: CBU's program is openly faith-integrated and teaches from a biblically rooted perspective.

Inland Empire and Southern California students seeking a regional option: CBU's Riverside campus serves Riverside, San Bernardino, and surrounding counties.

Students who need an online option: The online MS in Counseling Psychology offers distance-friendly coursework, with in-person practicum at approved local sites.

Working professionals seeking evening coursework: On-campus classes meet in the evenings, Monday through Thursday, with some Saturday sessions.

Students interested in dual licensure (MFT and LPCC): Additional coursework and fieldwork allow qualification for LPCC or dual LMFT/LPCC licensure.

Students interested in forensic or sport psychology pathways: Optional concentration and dual-degree tracks expand the program's focus areas.

Students interested in ministry-integrated counseling: The dual MS/MA in Counseling Ministry pairs clinical training with pastoral preparation.

Career changers entering the field: The GRE is not required and only a general psychology or development prerequisite is expected.

Students who prefer flexible pacing: The program may be completed in 2, 3, or 4 years.

Related California MFT Programs

If you are weighing California Baptist University, you may also want to compare these nearby and similar programs in our directory:

• La Sierra University: Same Riverside area, faith-based, dual LMFT/LPCC
• Loma Linda University: Same Inland Empire, faith-based, COAMFTE, dual
• CSU San Bernardino: Same Inland Empire, public comparison
• Point Loma Nazarene University: Christian university, dual LMFT/LPCC
• Azusa Pacific University: Faith-based private, nearby eastern Los Angeles County

Or compare all 71 California MFT programs side by side.

How This California MFT Directory Is Built

This is the only California MFT program directory that accepts no paid placements of any kind. No program can pay to be listed, pay to rank higher, pay to be featured, or pay to remove information, and there are no affiliate links or sponsored entries. Every program on the California BBS approved-program list is included. At Sentio University, we believe in program transparency. Every prospective student should have as much objective information about MFT programs as possible to make the best decision for themselves.

How to Choose an MFT Program in California

Meeting the BBS requirements tells you that a curriculum clears a legal bar but says almost nothing about how skilled a clinician you can become. The students who get the most out of these years treat licensure as the floor, and then ask a far more ambitious question: which program will help me reach the very top of what I am capable of as a therapist? The program you choose changes everything. By the time they reach practicum, 2 in 3 students at COAMFTE-accredited MFT programs do not feel prepared to see clients. Training built around real, performable clinical skills, rather than theory alone, is what lets you walk into your first session with genuine confidence and keep growing from there. You get to decide how high to aim, and the right program will rise to meet you.

Look closely at four things. First, Deliberate Practice: the strongest programs let you rehearse specific skills with immediate feedback, the same way world-class musicians and athletes build mastery over time. Second, clinical hours: seek out programs that give you a high volume of direct client contact, because nothing accelerates your development faster than real, supervised repetition. Third, video recording in supervision rather than student self-report, so your supervisors can coach what actually happened in the room. Fourth, routine outcome monitoring, which teaches you to track, honestly and objectively, whether your clients are getting better. A program that does all four is training you to pursue excellence, not just clear a requirement.

Also consider programs that teach you safe and ethical AI-integrated clinical training. And do not let cost quietly lower your sights. There are more scholarships and financial aid options for California MFT students than most applicants ever realize.

The purpose of these years is not simply to pass a board and collect a license. It is to become the best therapist you can be, so struggling therapy clients will trust you with the hardest moments of their lives. Hold your education to that standard. Reach for the ceiling rather than settling for the floor, and choose the program that will help you get there.

Note from the Field:
"Aim higher than the license. A degree gets you in the door, but skill is what earns a client's trust. Pick the program that takes your training as seriously as you do."
Alexandre Vaz, PhD

Making Your Decision: What to Do Before You Apply

Salary data and job market projections are useful inputs to your program search, but they cannot tell you what a school is actually like to attend. Marketing materials, program websites, and admissions presentations are designed to present a program favorably. The most reliable way to cut through that and understand what a program actually delivers in the classroom is to ask to sit in on a live class session, whether in person or online, before you commit. Every program that is confident in the quality of its instruction should not only allow this but actively welcome it. If a program is reluctant to let prospective students observe a class, that reluctance is itself informative. The California MFT job market rewards clinical skill, and the training environment you choose over the next two to three years will shape the kind of therapist you become. Take the time to see it for yourself before you decide.

For a detailed comparison of every California MFT program, see our directory of all 71 BBS-approved MFT programs in California.

To learn more about California Baptist University's MFT program, visit their official website at calbaptist.edu. If you are comparing MFT programs in California, you can explore Sentio University's MFT program to see how our Deliberate Practice training model compares.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is California Baptist's MFT program accredited?

CBU is institutionally accredited by WSCUC, and the MS in Counseling Psychology is approved by the California BBS for LMFT educational requirements. It is not COAMFTE- or CACREP-accredited.

Does CBU require the GRE?

No. The GRE is not required; scores may be submitted voluntarily to strengthen an application with a lower GPA.

How long is the program and how many units?

The standard LMFT track is about 63 units; dual LMFT/LPCC or concentration add-ons can raise it to roughly 87 units. Students may finish in two, three, or four years depending on pace.

Does CBU prepare students for the LPCC as well as the LMFT?

The degree prepares students for the California LMFT, and students may elect additional coursework to qualify for the LPCC or dual LMFT/LPCC licensure.

Does CBU publish outcome rates?

No. The program does not publish graduation, job placement, licensure, or exam pass rates, and it is not COAMFTE-accredited.

What does the program cost?

The standard 63-unit Counseling Psychology track is about $52,900 ($839 per unit) for 2025-2026; dual and concentration tracks cost more.

Disclaimer: This profile was prepared by Sentio University for informational purposes only. Sentio University is an MFT program in California and a peer institution to the program profiled above. All information was drawn from publicly available sources and the program's own published materials as of April 2026. Sentio University makes no guarantee regarding the accuracy or completeness of this information. Prospective students should contact the program directly to verify all details, including admissions requirements, tuition, accreditation status, and clinical training structure. This profile does not constitute an endorsement or recommendation. For a full list of California MFT programs, visit our California MFT Program Directory.

About the Authors

Tony Rousmaniere, PsyD is the President of Sentio University and Executive Director of the Sentio Counseling Center. He is Past President of the psychotherapy division of the American Psychological Association and the author of over 20 books on deliberate practice and psychotherapy training, including The Essentials of Deliberate Practice book series (APA Books). He is a licensed psychologist in California and Washington. Learn more

Alexandre Vaz, PhD is the Chief Academic Officer of Sentio University and cofounder of the Deliberate Practice Institute. He is co-editor of The Essentials of Deliberate Practice book series (APA Books) and the author of over a dozen books on deliberate practice and psychotherapy training. Dr. Vaz is the founder and host of Psychotherapy Expert Talks. He is a licensed clinical psychologist in Portugal. Learn more

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