13 Best Psychology Grad Programs In Riverside, CA (2022 Updated)

I think financial aid is run by Dr.Seuss. It’s a literal circus. They barely answer the phone and Stacy is brutal. I think she wrestled in the WWE. I simply and politely asked about my financial aid app and she punch me in throat so hard I started singing Ave Maria. I didn’t even know I knew the song. Oh and Brenda in records punched me in my chest so hard my shoulders clapped. She was pretty adamant about me not transferring. Do not step on campus without your PPO being updated.Donovan Bradshawe

This is a great university with students from all around the world, very beautiful buildings, gardens and sport facilities. It was a fantastic experience to study there for an year and enjoy such a nice atmosphere. Just be aware that you need a car to travel in weekends, for Riverside itself does not have many attractions, though it's a cozy city.Michael Rachid

Beautiful campus. So green. I love the Eucalyptus trees. It’s quiet in certain areas and social in others when students are around. A little something for everyone. Nice pathways for both walking and cycling. There are benches all around the campus to provide ample sitting areas to either just rest or to study with solar powered charging stations.Sajleen

CBU is pretty rad, and I want to respond to what I've seen in a couple reviews here. The first of which is people saying the location in Riverside sucks. I'll admit Riverside is not super tight, but there is the mission inn and a drive in movie theater and a few other things which are pretty cool within a few minutes of campus. The best part of Riverside is it's less than an hour from the beach, an hour from the mountains, and hour from LA and 45 minutes from a few theme parks. So if you have a car and aren't super lazy, your weekends should be fun. And there's always fun stuff going on campus too, (dive in movie nights at the pool, intramural and NCAA sports games, concerts, carnivals etc.) so if you have a good attitude you can have fun hanging out on campus. People are saying CBU wants your money. Of course they do, so does every other university that is in business. However CBU will really work with you to help you afford the school. Get good grades, maybe go out for a sports team or the music department and you'll get even more money. You have to work for it though, they don't give out serious amounts of money to anyone. If your parents are in ministry (pastor/missionary/work full time at a church) you're in luck too cuz they have scholarships for that too. It's a Christian school… Yep. I wouldn't say intolerant though. You will be taught what they believe to be Christian values and you can only expect that. There's like 7,000 students too so I'm sure there are rude intolerant ones there too. I think you will find rude/intolerant people no matter where you go but it most definitely is not the essence of the student body. CBU has a uniquely welcoming and loving community, and that's something I've heard from Christians and non-Christians alike at the school. Both are welcome to come but both also are required to go to chapel and follow the rules. I don't agree with all the rules but most of them are a pretty reasonable balance of trying to give freedom to students and adhere to Christian principles (coming from a non-conservative Christian background). That's part of making the decision to go to a Christian university, and realistically it's probably what's best for you anyways. If anyone has anything bad to say about the food I don't know what world famous chef you had cooking for you your entire life before here. The caf has killer variety, Chik-fil-a is freaking Chik-fil-a, Wandas has great breakfast and the best steak quesadillas, and El-Monte is as good as Chipotle. CBU does give real world experience. I know as a business major there are some awesome professors that are all about real world experience. Dr. Weniger and Alderson are a couple that come to mind. You get out what you put into your classes and almost every single professor at the school is very open to spending time with you helping you out with homework or just life. Academics are pretty top tier, but professors do come and go and though most are great, some are much better than others, so do a little time looking round rate my professor if you want the best ones. CBU is great. Sure there are other universities that are great too (not to many that compare that are in Southern California though) but CBU is a well rounded school academically, socially and spiritually. No school/student body is perfect, that's just life, but CBU is a solid choice to spend 4 years growing academically and spiritually into who you are going to be the rest of your life.Jake Roque

Okay, so I went to this school originally considering a nursing degree. It's hard to have many nice things to say about this school.. The school looks nice, but the neighborhood area is crap. You have to drive kinda far to see or do anything nice. It's hardly in Riverside, CA. Feel more like Norco, armpit of California. They put most of their students in cheap housing. Much of it was temporary when I was there. Other housing was old folks homes. Weird cheap, and kinda gross. The major feature of this school is this: They want your money. That's all. It's nothing spectacular in any way, and based on the price, it's a really bad deal. They "award" small scholarships to practically any student for any reason. They try to bring in a bunch of students through their music school. A music degree is NOT WORTH 100k- 150k of debt. And please remember folks, if everybody gets a scholarship, it's not actually a scholarship. THINK about it.. They just want your attention and your money. ALSO, Please be aware they will be raising the tuition on you every year, by lots of money! If you start at 30-35k, You will probably end at 40-45k annually. It's probably costing something around or over 40 or more thousand per year now. And YOU WILL pay more than you think by the end of the year. It's a Christian school, which is fine if you're a Christian. They are relatively intolerant conservatives though. Very serious/ oppressive Christian all over the place. Many of the students are sheltered, and having moved on to a regular university, I can tell you it doesn't represent the real world experience, or normal people, for the most part. Regarding this: Don't bother going here unless you're a rich serious sheltered Christian. If that's what you value, then maybe you'll like this place. Some of the people are fairly friendly, and the food in the cafeteria was good WHEN I was there. That more than a year ago. Some of the teachers were alright as well. I mostly took science classes, for reference. In summary, if you're not a young Christian who has no desire for real-world experience,then don't go here. The price is so not worth it! It's an institution for profit! Go to your local community college and earn entrance to a great University! Even Ivy league schools are looking to replace young dropouts with students that did well in their community colleges! It's just not worth it. If you're a thinking person, you'll start hating this school not long after you get there. NOT WORTH ITMichael D. Bear

I loved all 4 years at this school! As a freshman, I lived in the dorms and met my group of closest friends that I still hang out with to this day. I loved the food and had to be careful with dessert in the cafeteria otherwise I would have packed on the calories. The school does a great job of setting up events that target every student and gives great deals for other off-campus events like cheap Lakers tickets, cheap tickets to theme parks, and other giveaways. I am Mexican and I have never once felt like I was discriminated against at this school, if anything there are plenty of people at this school who make an effort to talk about racial injustices among students. As far as the incident in Ontario, I just want to say that you can find that level of ingorance at any university and even more so outside of that setting. Two girls made a stupid decision to throw a drink on a guy and they happened to be CBU students. If I’m being real here, CBU does not turn many people away when it comes to the application process, so any person who has higher than a 2.5 GPA will most likely get in. CBU does not necessarily focus on whether you are a Christian or not because they’d rather have you here at this school than at a school where the chance of hearing the gospel is much lower. Now back to the point, CBU is honestly such a great school and if you’ve ever visited, you notice right away that the atmosphere is one that you can’t find in many other places. People treat you with love, respect, understanding, and kindness. CBU is a school that truly looks to serve the students in any way possible and that’s the truth. Don’t let others who are are upset about what happened in Ontario tear down the idea of coming to this school because you will definitely see that the number of students who will treat you with love and respect far outweighs the ones who would pour a drink on you for sitting during the national anthem. Christian or not, CBU will welcome you with open arms regardless of ethnicity, sexual orientation, religion, gender, etc..Gabriel Lara

Dr Gardner is very professional, a good listener, and crazy smart. He has a way of unraveling issues that might sound confusing at first because he uses lots of big words, but don’t let that scare you—he is a doctor, and that means he went to school for a long time and knows a lot of stuff about psychology. He doesn’t judge and always comes up with a plan that will work. Here’’s a secret tip: He knows only one joke and the answer is “Slippers”.P.Cathleen Jacques

Update: I felt the need to update my review of La Sierra University due to the amount of attention that my original review attained and in order to further clarify certain aspects of my original review. As a Military Veteran I attended LSU utilizing my GI Bill. At the time of my attendance the campus did not offer a dedicated team or staff member that could tend to the unique requirements of Veterans and requests from the Department of Veterans Affairs in a timely manner. There were many occasions in which I would have to call and remind the representative in charge of the program at that time to certify my attendance at the university in order to receive my financial aid from the VA. On at least one occasion there was a significant lapse in aid as the representative failed to certify my attendance for a significant amount of time. I had to reach out the VA directly and request a financial hardship payment in order to keep up with my bills I had at the time since I had no other form of income during my time as a student there. Other campuses that I had attended prior to LSU always had a dedicated team of experts to assist Veterans on their higher education journey, even including small community colleges. I did not understand why a university of this size did not have something similar. Some of the buildings on campus were brand new, including the equipment, and conference halls. Though on the other hand other buildings on campus were rapidly deteriorating to include the very desks and chairs students sat in everyday. On occasion when a student brought this up to a staff member or professor it was explained that although the university does generate a significant income from student's tuition the profits have to be distributed to other sister schools and programs within the organization. Although the university offered great opportunities for students by providing jobs for them, to include opportunities for recent graduates. Some of the positions these recent graduates filled were counselors and tutors. Thought it is a great idea it failed to address key issues such as being able to reach someone with the proper knowledge of programs, available financial aid, and the ability to approve or deny eligibility for said programs. Being that most of the staff was comprised of student workers there was almost always a bottleneck in order to retrieve correct information or approvals. You will also be required to attend service at least once a week if you commute to campus. If you are in the dorms I have heard it is up to at least 3 times a week, but I cannot confirm that as I did not live on campus. You need to keep this in mind as this was mandatory and I had plan accordingly. Though it was mandatory not everyone that attended respected the service or even seemed the least bit interested. Often people were sprawled out on the benches taking a nap, talking to one another, or playing on their cellphones and portable video game consoles. As I understood Loma Linda University is a sister school of LSU so many of the students attending LSU were simply doing so in order to find an easier application path to Loma Linda. Things may have changed since my time there but this was the overall goal of many of my peers. Ultimately I ended up withdrawing from LSU for the reasons mentioned above as well as others not mentioned. I do not know how significantly things have changed since my attendance but if you're planning on attending this institution I would highly suggest you do your own research and talk to current students on their opinions, especially if you are going to be utilizing your VA benefits to do so.Martin Zamora

While I wasn’t a student there luckily, I have spent time on the campus and interacted with staff and student. There is zero campus life (which for me is actually prefer) but despite that, I have reason to rate it as low as we can go. Very expensive. Very understaffed. Basically paying to be taught by other students cause all the professors are stretched to thin. I went to events and I thought they hadn’t started yet, only to find out no one ever comes. The education department is the most incompetent and uncaring from what I’ve seen and heard. Seems they are actively trying to screw up the lives of future teachers. When the school closes the community will benefit.Eric Stocker

Worst University.. I made a payment for $313.00 For my daughter to attend.my daughter change her mind we asked for a refund the same day that we paid, they won't give our money back.. they keep making excuses and all they say is to wait and that they don't know when they can give it back …. They are THIEFS…All I want is money back……. I been speaking to Stephanie.. she said she don't know we're the money is ,they lost it.. I'm very upset ….don't trust themCasey Roney

I applied to the adult studies program to finish up my bachelors degree in late 2010. This means I actually attended classes at a satellite campus, not the main campus in Azusa. The satellite facilities are excellent and your graduation ceremony is held at the same time as the convention students. This was a very touch, in that it facilitated family coming to see your college graduation. Although I only visited the main a few times, somehow they make you feel connected to the entire university. I was extremely pleased with the caliber of instruction that each instructor provided. Every aspect of this school is well managed and professional. I completed a bachelors degree Human Development and successfully transitioned into a teaching credentialing program at a state school. I read some reviews below giving the school one star…. the reasons should not be a surprise…. "they don't approve of same gender relationships", "they have strict rules"…. Well, yes, it is a Christian college and they CLEARLY point out what they believe and what they reinforce when going through the admissions process. In the end, this school is a great choice, if you are looking for a college that has very low teacher to student ratios, this is it. If you are looking for a school that is safe for you or child, this is it. If you are looking to complete your bachelors, but can't make it Azusa, look into one of their satellite campuses.Marcos Nunez

I honestly don't know what Azusa Pacific University staff members do all day. I wonder if APU staff work hard enough to earn their salaries. I am a current Azusa Pacific University student who was accepted for admission in the middle of June. I requested a transfer credit evaluation more than one month ago, but it took MORE THAN A MONTH for APU staff to begin my transfer credit evaluation. Their lame excuse is that they have not received a required form that must be submitted. APU staff did NOT inform me that my transfer credit evaluation was taking a long time because of a change in administration (a new dean). I am STRONGLY considering transferring to a different school, one in which I can receive PERSONALIZED ATTENTION. Zero stars for Azusa Pacific University staff!!!! If I could give NEGATIVE five stars, that's what I would do!!Samuel CHOI (Sam)

I would have given this school a better review however the way they have handled covid has made me lose so much respect for this school. They have made the students lives a living hell, class is not only mandatory but your camera has to be on and if it’s not we don’t receive credit for class. If we have more than a certain amount of absences they take up to 3% off of our grade for every additional absence… ridiculous. Not to mention they raised tuition for students instead of giving us some of our money back because of the certain circumstances. They will find any way possible to charge you money. Even if you miss chapel they charge you money! RidiculousBrooke Bietz

EVERYTHING is confusing! -Register online- oh but not on your tablet or cell phone, and you won't know till to keep calling 50 times since there's no error online. -Can't register if you don't have counseling…oh but you can't get a counselor until far after registration is due and school starts -Slow response if any, nobody answers phones and email responses are weeks away. -can't buy parking permit until school starts! How dumb is that! You can't buy it up front and then surprise….you have a ticket now! You have to rush to buy it afterwards. -All procedures are disorganized horribly. -Signs on campus says viator parking but then small letters by permit only. -Refunds! They never send when they say, you have to hound them over and over.Steve McGuffey

The newer buildings look great and the schooling is significantly more affordable than university. Any time I've needed help staff have been friendly and generally accommodating. Unfortunately the roads are terrible and all the walkways are cracked badly. Even "wheelchair accessible " ramps and pathways are terribly jagged and dangerous if you are clumsy like me or genuinely disabled. The library also contains few actual books which was a disappointmentAdoree Hyde

Riverside city college was known as a riverside community college in the 1960s but was renamed in 2008. This is one of the best schools in California. The school took advantage of the newest educational facility which gives it an edge over other schools. It was established far back as 1916, it has given birth to a lot of great men and women. Its contributions can't be overemphasized.Ayobami Oke

I was at the shopping center near UCR Riverside with the Chase Bank, Del Taco, Sprint Etc… After wrapping up my business at Chase I decided to go upstairs to the sitting area to wait for my friend who was had gone to one of the other stores. At first there was no problem, and as long as I was up there by myself, I wasn't bothered. I sat at the table, ate some leftovers, used the drinking fountain and waited. When I saw my friend go to Chase I called him upstairs. Now, I have to mention race in this because it is a clear factor in what transpired next. I am white and my friend is black. Not more than 2 minutes after he got up there this guy dressed in police blue, wearing a bullet proof vest with all manners of gadgets hanging off of it approached us. He had a big bushy beard, tattoos, and a curly mustache with black and gray hair intermingled, and was wearing a bracelet that said "Blue lives matter" which I find ignorant in and of itself, because of the social and historical issues regarding the movement of #blacklivesmatter. Anyway, I had gotten out of the seat and was at the drinking fountain so he reached me and conveyed in a very rude tone that we needed to leave the area. At this I calmly asked "Is it posted anywhere that we cannot be up here?" To this he turned back to me, with the look that cops get right before they start beating someone, you know, the "are you questioning my authority and shaky manhood" look. He told me it didn't matter if it was posted anywhere and that I had to leave because he said so. I let him know that it was fine and I'd be leaving but for the sake of talking to the business owners I wanted to know if it was posted anywhere that we couldn't be up there. No one else was up there and no one was being bothered. He told me to take that up with the business owners. So I walked over to my friend and let him know what was up and he started walking down. I went back to ask for this guy's badge number so I could file a complaint. When I asked him he said "I don't have a badge number, I work for UCR Extension." So let me get this right, this bully wasn't even a cop? SMH. Anyway, as I went downstairs after being told very spitefully to "HAVE A GREAT DAY." When I made it downstairs my friend said to me that I should never let myself be alone with a cop where no one can see, a very understandable sentiment after seeing all the police brutality cases exposing that corrupt system. I agreed, but then the UCR Extension security employee shouted down "WHAT DID YOU SAY?" in an aggressive tone. My friend yelled back up word for word what he said. The dialogue went back and forth a bit, with my friend calling this guy santa claus (because of the beard) and the security guard calling him DAWG sarcastically. This further exposed the racism. It started out that the guard came up only after the black person showed up. Then he called him dawg. One thing led to another and again after a conversation down in the parking lot in which this bully tried to tell my friend where he could and couldn't stand (something he has no authority to do), this guy called my friend Homie. Come on, you know you wouldn't call a white guy homie. You know you wouldn't call a white guy dawg. This guy who looked like he just jumped off his Harley after committing a hate crime displayed his ignorance and racism in multiple ways. He also came across as antagonistic, rude and intimidating. I am very disappointed that UCR Extension has allowed their idea of safety to be represented and enforced by such a sensless, ignorant, biased and racist individual. I sincerely hope action is taken against him and that you take steps to ensure that the areas you are protecting and serving are safe for everyone and not just white people. Let me know what you plan to do to take care of this. Please, whichever of your staff firsts becomes aware of this review, forward the information to the appropriate supervisor of this representative of your company. Please demonstrate that you do not support this kind of behavior. Liam XNathan Hammer

Warming: Do not apply for UCR!!! Crimes violence everyday in Riverside!!! The campus is unsafe and dangerous!!! Apply for other schools!!! The international Student Center (ISRC) is dark and insidious! People recently working here are a bunch of racists and nazists! Before you apply to UCR, they will pretend like welcoming you, but once you get admitted, you will see the truth!!! Every time when you make an appoint with advisors, they answer you "appointments are not allowed." Then you will hear everyone working in ISRC laughing at you. If you ask them questions, they always answer"you don't need to think about it now…" You can always hear "go back to your country" by the end just because you are one of international students!!! 警告：千万不要申请UCR，Riverside很危险，都出都是犯罪记录！！！ 如果你不是白人的话，路上开车的人会有意撞你们！！！ 国际学生部门的态度很不好，他们都是些种族主义和纳粹主义的人！！！ 警告：千萬不要申請UCR，Riverside很危險，都出都是犯罪記錄！ ！ ！ 如果你不是白人的話，路上開車的人會有意撞你們！ ！ ！ 國際學生部門的態度很不好，他們都是些種族主義和納粹主義的人！ ！ ！ Advertencia: No se aplican para la UCR, Riverside es muy peligroso, ambos son antecedentes penales! ! ! Si no es blanco, a continuación, conduciendo por la carretera se haría intencionalmente le golpeó! ! ! Actitud del sector de los estudiantes internacionales es muy malo, que son más racismo y el nazismo personas! ! ! 警告：UCRには適用しないでください、リバーサイドは両方とも犯罪歴あり、非常に危険です！ ！ ！ あなたは白でない場合は、1があなたを故意に当たる道を運転！ ！ ！ 留学生部門の態度が非常に悪いです、彼らはより多くの人種差別とナチズムの人々です！ ！ ！ Advertencia: No se aplican para la UCR, Riverside es muy peligroso, ambos son antecedentes penales! ! ! Si no es blanco, a continuación, conduciendo por la carretera se haría intencionalmente le golpeó! ! ! Actitud del sector de los estudiantes internacionales es muy malo, que son más racismo y el nazismo personas! ! ! Attention: Ne pas appliquer pour DUC, Riverside est très dangereux, les deux sont un casier judiciaire! ! ! Si vous n'êtes pas blanc, puis conduire sur la route on le ferait intentionnellement vous frapper! ! ! Attitude du secteur des étudiants internationaux est très mauvais, ils sont plus de gens de racisme et le nazisme! ! ! Achtung: Nicht bei für UCR, Am Fluss ist sehr gefährlich, beide sind vorbestraft! ! ! Wenn Sie nicht weiß sind, dann die Straße würde man fahren auf absichtlich treffen Sie! ! ! Haltung der internationalen Studenten-Sektor ist sehr schlecht, sie sind mehr Rassismus und Nazismus Menschen! ! !Alex Nguyen

I'v been studying ESL for a year. The teachers are mix. Some are super professional and helpful, and some are totally crab. The staff was good and friendly, but not anymore. They are being treating foreign students in an awful way.Ya MoHaMmEd yA aLi