Fielding Graduate University

Fielding Graduate University (previously Fielding Graduate Institute and The Fielding Institute) is a university in Santa Barbara, California. It offers postgraduate and doctoral studies mainly in psychology, education and organizational studies, primarily through distance education programs.

Fielding Graduate University was founded in 1974 by Frederic M. Hudson, Hallock Hoffman, and Renata Tesch. They designed Fielding as a graduate program for mid-career professionals who were not being served by traditional universities.

The university offers graduate programs for adult professionals seeking master's and doctoral degrees. It offers degree and certificate programs through the School of Psychology and School of Leadership Studies. The programs include online learning, individual faculty-student mentoring and assessment, and in-person events of various types in many locations throughout the year. The professions targeted include clinical psychology, media psychology, educational leadership, organizational leadership, and human development, within the corporate, nonprofit, and public sectors. Fielding was the first university to offer a Ph.D program in media psychology.

Fielding Graduate University is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization accredited by the WASC Senior College and University Commission (WSCUC).

Fielding Graduate University was selected as a member of the Carnegie Project on the Education Doctorate (CPED), a collaboration of 87 institutions focused on redesigning doctorate in education (EdD) programs.It also was one of 240 schools selected for the 2015 Community Engagement Classification from the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching.