Kairos Pacific University MFT Program: Comprehensive Profile and Student Fit Analysis

Kairos Pacific University, the Tustin branch campus of America Evangelical University, is one of 76 BBS-approved MFT programs in California. Compare all 76 in our directory. Program data collected September 2026 from publicly available sources including the Kairos Pacific University Master of Arts in Marriage and Family Therapy program page, the Kairos admissions, tuition and accreditation pages, the America Evangelical University 2025-2026 academic catalog, the Association for Biblical Higher Education directory, and California regulatory records. A program or clinical training handbook is not publicly posted; the 2025-2026 catalog serves as the primary public institutional document. 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 $28,400, tuition only, based on 2024-2025 rates) against the directory’s lowest and highest published totals.

Estimated total tuition: approximately $28,380 for the 66-unit program at $430 per unit, per Kairos's published full-program tuition, which is based on the 2024-2025 school year. Kairos also lists registration and library, technology, and graduation fees. The AEU 2025-2026 catalog lists the MA in MFT at $300 per unit, or $19,800 in tuition, so confirm the current rate with Kairos before enrolling.

Regional pay context: In the Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim area, marriage and family therapists earn a median of about $71,110 per year, with a typical range of roughly $49,860 to $98,450 (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 Los Angeles LMFT salary guide.

Those medians describe licensed therapists; the associate years before licensure pay less. See what therapists actually earn before licensure and, for take-home estimates, what a therapy career actually pays in California.

Schedule and Format Details

Evening and Online Formats: Kairos describes the program as built for working adults, with evening and online formats and cohorts serving Los Angeles and Orange County as well as online students. Courses are taught in hybrid and online formats, synchronously and asynchronously, with extensive use of live Zoom for lecture and discussion.

Part-Time Study: Kairos offers evening courses and part-time study options, and says the program can be completed in two to three years depending on course load.

Terms: The academic year has fall and spring semesters. For 2026-2027, fall classes begin August 24, 2026 and spring classes begin January 25, 2027, per the Kairos academic calendar.

Language: The AEU catalog notes that select courses in the program are offered in Korean; which courses, and whether they are open to Tustin or online students, is not publicly listed; confirm with program.

Class Days and Times: Current class days and times for the Tustin campus are not publicly listed; confirm with program.

Clinical Training and Fieldwork

Clinical Hours: Per the Kairos program page, students complete 400 hours of clinical training, including 300 direct client hours, of which 100 must be relational hours; AEU's program page also lists 400 hours. The AEU 2025-2026 catalog lists 300 to 400 hours of clinical training.

Training Clinic: Not publicly listed; confirm with program.

Practicum Arrangement: Not publicly listed; confirm with program. Kairos says students complete practicum with support from faculty, a clinical director and their cohort.

Personal Psychotherapy Requirement: Not publicly listed; confirm with program.

Professional Development: Students complete a 50-hour professional development program rooted in Christian ethics.

To see how practicum hours fit into the full California licensure sequence, from degree through the 3,000 supervised hours, read how therapist licensure actually works in California.

Curriculum Structure

The 66-unit curriculum combines core courses and electives, per the AEU 2025-2026 catalog:

Core Coursework: Advanced lifespan development, family therapy, marriage and couples therapy, child and adolescent therapy, psychological testing and assessment, crisis and trauma assessment and intervention, multicultural counseling, addictions assessment and intervention, group therapy, psychopathology and diagnosis, research methodologies, legal and ethical issues, clinical counseling skills, psychopharmacology, substance abuse and diversity, professional development, and human sexuality and sex therapy.

Clinical Sequence: Introduction to Clinical Placement, followed by Clinical Practicum I and Clinical Practicum II.

Electives: Options include Imago Therapy, Art Therapy, Emotional Intelligence and Neuro Linguistic Psychology, Christian Spiritual Formation, Holistic Healing Mind Body Spirit, and Advanced Multi-Cultural Dynamics in Therapy.

Culminating Requirements

Per the Kairos program page, students conclude their studies with a capstone project: a comprehensive case presentation that demonstrates their readiness to enter the professional field.

Application Process

Application Deadlines: Kairos publishes no program-specific application deadline. AEU's admissions page gives deadlines of around January 15 for spring entry and August 15 for fall entry.

Start Terms: Fall and spring.

GPA Requirement: Minimum GPA of 3.0, with conditional admission possible, per AEU's program page.

Prerequisites: None listed beyond a four-year bachelor's degree from an accredited institution.

Application Components: Application form, two recommendations from faculty, employers or church leaders, official transcripts, one recent photograph, evidence of active church participation, and a $100 application fee, per the Kairos admission requirements.

Interview: Yes. A personal interview with a university representative, in person, online or by phone.

For statement-of-purpose, interview, and recommendation advice that applies to any program on this list, see how to get into a therapy graduate program.

What This Program Says About Itself

• Per Kairos, the program is built for working adults, with evening and online formats.
• Kairos says its instructors are licensed therapists who carry real caseloads.
• The curriculum integrates clinical training with Christian faith and ethics.
• Small classes, group discussions and personal mentorship support both professional and spiritual growth.
• Kairos says its published tuition price does not change while a student is enrolled.

This Program May Be a Good Fit For

Before weighing any single program, it is worth being honest about fit for the career itself: try the self-assessment Are You Built to Be a Therapist? and read why some people say not to become a therapist.

Students in Orange County and the Los Angeles area seeking a hybrid program: The Tustin campus serves Orange County, and Kairos runs cohorts for Los Angeles and Orange County students as well as online students.

Students seeking a Christian educational environment: AEU is rooted in evangelical Protestantism, and the program integrates Christian faith and ethics with clinical training.

Working adults who need evening or part-time study: Kairos offers evening courses and part-time study options.

Students prioritizing affordability: Kairos publishes full-program tuition of $28,380, based on the 2024-2025 school year, among the lowest totals for a private program in the directory.

Career changers entering the field: No prerequisite coursework is listed beyond a bachelor's degree, and the GRE is not among the admission requirements. If you are coming from another field, see changing careers to become a therapist.

Related California MFT Programs

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

• HIS University: Faith-integrated, Korean-American community focus, Orange County
• Hope International University: Faith-integrated, Fullerton, Orange County
• Vanguard University: Faith-integrated, Santa Ana, on-campus clinic
• Daybreak University: Anaheim, affordable, online option
• Cal State Fullerton: Public university option in Orange County

Or compare all 76 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. It tells you very little about how skilled a clinician you will become. The students who get the most out of these years treat licensure as the floor and then ask a more ambitious question: which program will help me reach the top of what I am capable of as a therapist? Training built around real, performable clinical skills, rather than theory alone, is what lets you walk into your first session with confidence and keep growing from there. You get to decide how high to aim, and the right program will rise to meet you.

Four questions separate programs that look similar on paper. How much class time is spent rehearsing specific clinical skills with immediate feedback, rather than discussing theory? How many hours of direct client contact will you accumulate, and when do they start? Does supervision review recorded sessions, or your own account of what happened in the room? Are client outcomes tracked with a measure? Ask every program you are considering, Sentio University included, and compare the answers. Our guide to how to evaluate a therapy graduate program explains what a strong answer to each question sounds like.

Also consider programs that teach you safe and ethical AI-integrated clinical training, and read about AI and the future of therapy careers. 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 describe the field. They cannot tell you what a school is like to attend. Ask to sit in on a live class, in person or online, before you commit, and most programs will accommodate that on request. The two to three years you spend in training shape the kind of therapist you become, so it is worth seeing a classroom before you decide. For the full picture, from career fit through licensure and program choice, see Becoming a Therapist in California: an Honest Guide.

For a detailed comparison of every California MFT program, see our directory of all 76 BBS-approved MFT programs in California.

To learn more about Kairos Pacific University's MFT program, visit their official website at kairos.aeu.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 Kairos Pacific University's MFT program accredited?

Kairos Pacific University is a branch campus of America Evangelical University, which is accredited by the Association for Biblical Higher Education (ABHE). Kairos states that the program is designed to meet the educational requirements of California Business and Professions Code Section 4980.36 for LMFT licensure, and the program appears on the California BBS Education Resources list. It does not hold COAMFTE or CACREP accreditation.

Does Kairos Pacific University require the GRE?

No. The GRE is not among the published Kairos admission requirements.

How long is the program and how many units?

It is a 66-unit program. Kairos lists it at 2.5 years and says it can be completed in two to three years depending on course load; the AEU catalog lists three years, and part-time study is available.

Is the program offered online?

Kairos offers evening and online formats and teaches its courses in hybrid and online formats, synchronously and asynchronously. The campus is in Tustin, in Orange County.

What outcomes does Kairos Pacific University publish?

Kairos and America Evangelical University do not publish graduation, job placement, licensure, or exam pass rates for this program on their websites.

What does the program cost?

Kairos publishes full-program tuition of $28,380, or $430 per unit for 66 units, based on the 2024-2025 school year; registration, technology and graduation fees are additional. The AEU 2025-2026 catalog lists $300 per unit, so confirm the current rate with the program.

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 September 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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