Rhombus University MFT Program: Comprehensive Profile and Student Fit Analysis

Rhombus 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 Rhombus University MA in Counseling Psychology program page, the Rhombus University 2024-2025 school catalog, DEAC accreditation records, and California BBS records. A standalone clinical training handbook was not located on the public web; the school catalog functions as the primary 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 $25,000, tuition only) against the directory’s lowest and highest published totals.

Estimated total tuition: approximately $25,000 in tuition (60 units at $1,250 per 3-unit course for 2024-2025); the catalog estimates a total out-of-pocket cost of about $30,690 including fees, books, and related costs.

Regional pay context: In the San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad area, marriage and family therapists earn a median of about $49,610 per year (mean about $65,440), with the middle half earning roughly $49,610 to $74,390 (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 San Diego LMFT salary guide.

Schedule and Format Details

Online Format: The program is fully online. Weekly synchronous video sessions are held on Thursday evenings from 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. Pacific Time. The remainder of coursework is completed asynchronously on a flexible schedule.

Trimester Calendar: Rhombus operates on a three-trimester year. The Fall trimester runs September 1 through December 31, Spring runs January 1 through April 30, and Summer runs May 1 through August 31.

Pace: Students typically enroll in two to three courses per trimester. Rolling admissions allow students to begin coursework at any point during any trimester.

Clinical Training and Fieldwork

Clinical Hours: Per the catalog, students complete a minimum of 280 hours of face-to-face counseling with individuals, couples, families, or groups during the program practicum sequence (CO-621, CO-622, CO-623). For students on the LMFT pathway, no more than 75 of those hours may come from client advocacy. Additional supervised experience required for California LMFT or LPCC licensure is completed post-degree.

Training Clinic: Rhombus does not operate an in-house training clinic. Students secure practicum sites in their local communities.

Practicum Arrangement: Students identify and secure their own practicum placements at nonprofit counseling agencies with qualified licensed supervisors (minimum two years licensed, with the supervisor training coursework required by the California BBS). Rhombus reviews and contracts with each site. For students without access to a local site, the catalog notes a contracted relationship with New Visions Counseling Center as an alternative placement option.

Personal Psychotherapy Requirement: Yes. Per the catalog, students must complete 20 hours of individual personal counseling during the first year of the program, at the student's expense, as a prerequisite for practicum courses.

Curriculum Structure

The 60-unit MACP curriculum integrates counseling theory, clinical training, and biblical integration per the Rhombus University 2024-2025 catalog:

Core Coursework: Counseling theories, human development across the lifespan, psychopathology, multicultural counseling, ethics and law, assessment, group counseling, marriage and family systems, research methods, and biblical integration with counseling practice.

Clinical Sequence: Three practicum courses (CO-621, CO-622, CO-623) completed sequentially at an approved community site with licensed supervision.

LPCC Addition: Students who wish to add LPCC preparation complete a Vocational Counseling course (one additional 3-unit course).

Culminating Requirements

Per the catalog, students must pass a comprehensive examination with a minimum score of 70 percent, complete all practicum courses with competency-based clinical evaluation, and complete the required 280 hours of supervised clinical practicum.

Application Process

Application Deadlines: Rolling admissions. Students may apply and enroll at any time during any of the three trimesters.

Start Terms: Fall, Spring, and Summer trimesters.

GPA Requirement: Minimum 2.5 undergraduate GPA for admission. Students must maintain a 3.0 cumulative GPA once enrolled to remain in good academic standing and to qualify for graduation.

Prerequisites: Bachelor's degree from an accredited institution. No specific prerequisite courses are required for admission.

Application Components: Completed application with $90 fee (includes background check), official transcripts showing the conferred bachelor's degree, a 1 to 2 page essay addressing purpose and stance on the biblical perspective of psychology, three letters of recommendation, valid photo identification, a signed acknowledgment of Rhombus University's statement of faith, a signed technology requirements acknowledgment, and completion of the internal entrance exam after interview.

Interview: Yes. An approved interview conducted via Zoom with a school official is required as part of admissions.

What This Program Says About Itself

• Per the Rhombus University Licensed Marriage and Family Therapy Programs page, the MA in Counseling Psychology is designed to prepare graduates for California LMFT and LPCC licensure from a Christian, biblically integrated perspective.
• The program is delivered fully online to serve students across California and beyond who need flexibility.
• The program operates on a rolling, year-round trimester calendar that allows students to begin at any point during any trimester.
• Biblical integration is woven throughout coursework, reflecting Rhombus University's institutional identity.
• The program is listed on the California BBS approved program list for LMFT educational requirements.

This Program May Be a Good Fit For

Students seeking a Christian, biblically integrated MFT education: Rhombus teaches counseling psychology explicitly from a biblical philosophy and requires acknowledgment of the university's statement of faith.

Students who need a fully online format: Rhombus delivers the entire program online with no residency requirement, suitable for students who cannot relocate or commute.

Students who value flexible, self-paced scheduling: Rolling trimester enrollment and a single weekly synchronous session allow students to structure study around work and family commitments.

Students seeking a lower tuition option: At approximately $25,000 in tuition for the 60-unit curriculum, Rhombus offers one of the lower sticker prices among California-approved LMFT programs.

Students interested in dual LMFT and LPCC preparation: Adding a single Vocational Counseling course allows graduates to prepare for LPCC licensure alongside LMFT.

Students who already have community-based clinical site access: Because Rhombus does not operate an in-house clinic, students who can identify a qualified nonprofit practicum site in their area are well positioned for the clinical sequence.

Career changers entering the field: The GRE is not required, no prerequisite coursework is required for admission, and the minimum undergraduate GPA for admission is 2.5.

Students who value personal therapy as part of training: The program requires 20 hours of personal counseling during the first year.

Related California MFT Programs

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

• National University: Online, dual LMFT/LPCC, San Diego HQ
• University of Phoenix: Fully online, statewide
• Alliant International University: Online option, multi-campus
• California Southern University: Fully online, Southern California
• Point Loma Nazarene University: San Diego, online option, dual

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 Rhombus University's MFT program, visit their official website at rhombusuniversity.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 Rhombus University's program accredited?

Rhombus is institutionally accredited by the Distance Education Accrediting Commission (DEAC) and approved by the California BBS and BPPE. It is not COAMFTE- or CACREP-accredited.

Does Rhombus require the GRE?

No. The GRE is not required; an internal entrance exam is used for learning-progress tracking, not as an admission cutoff.

How is the program delivered and how long is it?

It is a 60-unit, fully online MA in Counseling Psychology with weekly synchronous evening sessions, typically completed in about three years across nine trimesters.

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

Yes. Students prepare for LMFT licensure and may add LPCC qualification by completing one additional 3-unit vocational counseling course.

Does Rhombus publish outcome rates?

Only a California BPPE School Performance Fact Sheet, which covers very small single-digit cohorts (a single graduate across the reported years). Those figures are not a comparable measure of program outcomes, and Rhombus is not COAMFTE-accredited.

How much does the program cost?

Tuition is about $25,000 for 60 units ($1,250 per 3-unit course); the catalog estimates a total out-of-pocket cost of about $30,690 including fees, books, and related costs.

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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