Loyola Marymount University MFT Program: Comprehensive Profile and Student Fit Analysis

Loyola Marymount 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 program's official website, the university's academic catalog, and official fee schedules. 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 $103,000, tuition only) against the directory’s lowest and highest published totals.

Estimated total tuition: approximately $103,000 in tuition (60 units at about $1,719 per unit for 2025-2026; mandatory fees are additional).

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.

Schedule and Format Details

Full-Time In-Person Track (2 years): Classes meet Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays during daytime hours on campus. The program is cohort-based. Clinical internships are assigned during the spring semester of Year One and continue through Year Two, with internship schedules and locations varying. Students complete the degree in four consecutive semesters.

Part-Time In-Person Track (3 years): Classes meet Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays during daytime hours on campus. The program is cohort-based and allows students to fulfill program requirements at a slower pace while maintaining the same daytime class attendance requirement. Clinical internships are assigned during the spring semester of Year One and continue through Year Two and Year Three.

Clinical Training and Fieldwork

The program requires two clinical internships totaling approximately 840 hours, with a minimum of 350 hours of direct client contact providing art therapy services to individuals, groups, and families (per the 2025-2026 academic catalog). Practicum placements are made by the program during the spring semester of Year One, with assignments continuing through the completion of the degree. The program maintains a network of diverse training facilities and practicum sites, and operates an on-campus training facility: the Helen B. Landgarten Art Therapy Clinic, where students gain hands-on experience and provide therapeutic services to various communities in the Los Angeles area. Practicum coursework spans three semesters (Years One and Two, or Years One, Two, and Three for part-time students), with 3 to 4 units of practicum/supervision coursework in each practicum semester. Personal psychotherapy during the first two semesters is highly recommended but not mandated.

Culminating Requirements

Students must complete a Research/Clinical Paper (3 units) in the final semester. This capstone project asks students to integrate their clinical learning with research and scholarship, connecting theory to their practicum experiences.

Application Process

Application Deadline: For Fall 2027 admission only. Applications must be submitted by Monday, November 30, 2026. No spring or summer start dates are available.

Undergraduate GPA Requirement: Minimum cumulative undergraduate GPA of 3.0. Priority given to applicants whose bachelor's degree is posted at the time of application.

Prerequisite Courses: Studio Art: minimum 18 semester hours (27 quarter hours) demonstrating proficiency and disciplined commitment in art making across a variety of materials and processes. Psychology: minimum 12 semester hours (18 quarter hours) including Developmental Psychology and Abnormal Psychology/Psychopathology, completed within the past 5 years for a letter grade.

Application Components: Bachelor's degree from an accredited institution; two letters of recommendation focused on relevant professional or mental health experience; 10 to 12 page double-spaced autobiography emphasizing personal experiences and motivations; art portfolio with up to 10 images plus a 300-word statement on one piece's psychological content; recorded 10-minute video response to four interview questions; participation in a virtual group interview (dates vary by admissions cycle).

Interview Requirement: Yes. Applicants submit a recorded 10-minute video response to four interview questions, and participate in a virtual group interview session scheduled by the program.

Program Start Terms: Fall only (typically August start).

Concentrations and Specializations

The program offers specialized training in Clinical Art Therapy as an integrated component of the MFT curriculum. Students develop competency in both verbal and nonverbal therapeutic modalities, combining marital and family therapy theory with clinical art therapy practice. Art therapy training is built into the core curriculum for all students. The program also offers an optional study abroad experience: the Art Therapy in Mexico Summer program in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico, designed to broaden students' experiences with art therapy training in the arts, language, and culture of Mexico.

What This Program Says About Itself

• Since 1975, the program has been a leader in art therapy education in the United States, with a long track record of preparing clinicians for diverse work settings.
• The program maintains small classes and an individualized approach to learning, fostering an intimate cohort of students and mentors in a personalized educational environment.
• The curriculum emphasizes a multicultural approach through course content and community outreach, as well as an international study abroad program in Mexico.
• The program integrates visual arts and psychotherapeutic skills, training students in both verbal and nonverbal therapeutic modalities so they graduate as licensed marriage and family therapists in California and registered art therapists with the American Art Therapy Association.
• The program values mission integration aligned with the university's Catholic Jesuit identity, including a commitment to justice, service to underserved communities, and education of the whole person.

This Program May Be a Good Fit For

Students seeking strong practicum infrastructure: The program maintains an in-house training clinic (Helen B. Landgarten Art Therapy Clinic) and provides program-arranged practicum placements within a network of training facilities, reducing the burden on students to locate sites independently.

Students seeking faith-integrated training: LMU's Catholic Jesuit mission is integrated throughout the university and the graduate program, with an explicit commitment to service, justice, and education of the whole person informed by Ignatian spirituality and Catholic values.

Students interested in serving diverse and underserved populations: The program emphasizes multicultural competency, community outreach, and training across varied mental health settings. The on-campus clinic provides services to diverse communities in Los Angeles.

Students who value small cohort learning: The program emphasizes small class sizes and an individualized approach to learning, fostering an intimate cohort experience and personalized mentorship.

Students seeking an accelerated path: The 2-year full-time track allows completion within 24 months.

Students in Southern California: The program is located at LMU's Westchester campus in Los Angeles with in-person, on-campus instruction throughout.

Related California MFT Programs

If you are weighing Loyola Marymount, you may also want to compare these nearby and similar programs in our directory:

• Mount Saint Mary's University: Same LA area, Catholic private
• Pepperdine University: Same LA area, faith-based private
• University of Southern California: Same LA area, private, LMFT-only
• Antioch University: Same LA area, private clinical psychology/MFT
• Pacific Oaks College: Same LA area, private

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 Loyola Marymount University's MFT program, visit their official website at lmu.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 LMU's MFT program accredited?

Yes. The program is accredited by CAAHEP on the recommendation of the Accreditation Council for Art Therapy Education (ACATE), and LMU is institutionally accredited by WSCUC. It is not COAMFTE-accredited.

Does LMU require the GRE?

The GRE is optional; a verbal score of 158 is recommended, and the MAT is accepted in its place.

How long is the program and how many units?

It is a minimum 60 semester hour program, offered full-time over two years or part-time over three years, in person during the day.

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

No. The program leads to the California LMFT only, with art therapy registration through the ATCB; there is no LPCC track.

What outcomes does LMU publish?

LMU reports 100% student retention for its 2023, 2024, and 2025 cohorts and self-reported employment statistics (for the Class of 2025, 85.7% of responding graduates reported working in a related field). It does not publish a graduation, licensure, or exam pass rate.

What GPA do I need and when is the deadline?

A 3.0 cumulative GPA is expected (applicants below 3.0 may still apply). The Fall 2027 application deadline is November 30, 2026, with Fall-only admission.

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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