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About

Fielding

Fielding Graduate University was founded in March of 1974, in Santa Barbara, CA.

[pictured: Faculty, Students, and Alum]


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Fielding Graduate University

Our global, distributed community of professionals is dedicated to lifelong learning, social justice, and advancement for individuals, organizations, communities, and society.

Taught by faculty representing a breadth of scholarship and practice, our rigorous curriculum offers courses and degrees in psychology, leadership, and education for professionals living and working anywhere in the world.

Fielding’s History and Philosophy

Fielding Graduate University was founded by three friends: Frederic Hudson, Hallock Hoffman, and Renata Tesch–all distinguished higher–education administrators and educators.

The founders envisioned a nationally recognized graduate school based on two notions:

1. Changing demographics were altering the world of higher education.
The founders speculated that students seeking advanced degrees would be mid-career adults who wanted to enhance already well-established academic and professional skills; who would be committed to effecting a mid-life career change; and who would be interested in being part of a lifelong-learning community.

2. Adults learn differently than adolescents and young adults.
The traditional pedagogical method of education–active teacher, passive learner–would not be appropriate to this new experiment. To accommodate and capitalize on the learning styles of its students, Fielding developed a rigorous, supportive learning model that today remains flexible, adult-centered, self-directed, practice-oriented, global, and competence-based.

For more than 45 years, Fielding has applied these ideas to educating passionate, motivated students–and transforming them into gratified, successful graduates who go on to make positive changes in their organizations and communities.

Fielding’s 45th Anniversary Monograph

Edited by President Katrina S. Rogers and former Provost & Senior Vice President Monique L. Snowden, this collection of essays, memoirs, and research articles captures the unique role of Fielding as one of the nation’s oldest graduate institutions for mid-career learners. Long before there was an Internet, Fielding invented the concept of a distributed university—a place where adult learners could leverage their professional and academic experience to aspire to doctoral and other graduate degrees, without having to leave their home or place of work.

This monograph illustrates adult transformational learning, from alumni describing how evolving into “scholar-practitioners” inspired their life’s work to faculty members recounting how Fielding took shape amid a culture of scholarship and social justice. You’ll also find discussions about the:

  • Transformative power of adult education
  • Creation of new scholarly disciplines
  • Role of mentoring in learning

Together, these tales provide a sampling of the rich, complex tapestry that is Fielding.

The book is available on Amazon.

Why Choose Fielding?

Fielding Graduate University | Educator of Teachers and Leaders

Fielding Graduate University educates teachers and leaders in school systems around the world. Offering degrees in Infant and Early Childhood Development and Educational Leadership for Change, our programs prepare graduates for leadership at any level.

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A Transformative Experience

Fielding Graduate University Alum & Adjunct Faculty | Testimonial | Charlyn Green Fareed

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Who We Are.

Fielding Graduate University is an accredited nonprofit leader in graduate education, combining face‐to‐face and online learning.

Our global, distributed community of professionals is dedicated to lifelong learning, social justice, and advancement for individuals, organizations, communities, and society.

Taught by faculty representing a breadth of scholarship and practice, our rigorous curriculum offers courses and degrees in psychology, leadership, and education for professionals living and working anywhere in the world.

Read More

Highlights – 2021 Virtual Graduation Fielding Graduate University

Meet our graduates.

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