Alliant International University

Alliant International University is a private, for-profit benefit corporation university with its main campus in San Diego and other campuses in California, and Mexico. The university is also known as Alliant. It offers programs in six California campuses – in San Francisco, San Diego, Los Angeles, Irvine, Sacramento, and Fresno – and four international campuses – in Mexico City, Mexico; Nairobi, Kenya; Tokyo, Japan; and Hong Kong. Its enrollment is approximately 4,000 students, of whom 95% are post-graduate.
History.
Alliant was formed in 2001 by the combination of two older institutions: the California School of Professional Psychology (CSPP) and United States International University (USIU). Like the institutions that it descended from, Alliant has its home campus in San Diego, California. Until 2007, USIU also had a Europe campus in a former public school in the UK, which was used as a site for many films, including the "Harry Potter" series.
USIU is the descendant of the original Balboa School of Law founded by Leland Ghent Stanford as a private graduate institution, in 1924. The name was changed to Balboa University, and then to California Western University in 1952. With the name change to California Western University the school relocated to an oceanside campus in Point Loma (the site of present-day Point Loma Nazarene University). In 1968, the school's name was changed to United States International University with the vision to become a truly global university. Land was purchased for a new campus in Scripps Ranch, and all USIU operations were moved there by 1973. The law school, however, retained the name of California Western School of Law and moved to a new downtown location. In 1975 it split off to become an independent institution which is still in operation.
William C. Rust was the president of California Western University who ushered in the transformation to USIU and led the school for the next 37 years. Rust's vision was "to create global understanding through a single university with campuses all over the world.". The founding goal for USIU was a focus on "human excellence" over "intellectual excellence." By 1971, Rust had transformed the former small liberal arts school of California Western University into what the San Diego Reader referred to as an "international phenomenon." Besides the main Scripps Ranch campus, USIU had developed a network of campuses both nationally in Maui, Steamboat Springs, and Guam as well as internationally, with branch campuses in: London, Mexico City, Tokyo and Nairobi. In 1986, Rust was still breaking new ground for buildings and maintaining a focus on further expansion in Latin America, the Middle East, Europe and Russia. But by 1990, after 37 years of leading the university and enduring several rocky financial episodes, Rust was removed of all governing power by the board of trustees. Gary Hays, former chancellor of the Minnesota State University, took over as president of USIU in April 1990 and reorganized the University into just two remaining colleges; arts and sciences and business administration. In 1999, the Nairobi campus became its own independent entity known as United States International University Africa.
In 2001 the California School of Professional Psychology and United States International University merged to become Alliant, taking over the Scripps Ranch campus of USIU. At first Alliant was a nonprofit university like its two predecessors. In February 2015, Alliant became a for-profit benefit corporation and part of the Arist Education System, a subsidiary of Bertelsmann.
Schools.
Alliant International University is composed of several academic schools:
Accreditation.
Alliant, including all of its programs, is accredited by the WASC Accrediting Commission for Senior Colleges and Universities. The university's education programs are accredited by the California State Board of Education. Clinical psychology programs are accredited by the American Psychological Association (APA). Alliant's marital and family therapy programs are accredited by the Commission on Accreditation for Marriage and Family Therapy Education.
Recognition.
Alliant was included in "GI Jobs" magazine's 2013 list of Military-Friendly Schools, the third year in a row the university had been included in this listing. It was also included on the "Military Times EDGE" magazine's list of Best for Vets Colleges in 2010 and 2011; in 2011, Alliant was ranked #10 on the list, making it the highest-ranked non-traditional university in California.
Athletics.
During the 1980s and 1990s, prior to its merger with Alliant, the USIU Gulls fielded several Division I teams. The football team produced and was once briefly coached by the legendary player and coach Sid Gillman. USIU's international student body allowed it to field a competitive NCAA Division I hockey team, the USIU Gulls, which was the only NCAA team "west of the Rockies." However, in 1990 after 10 successful years and producing two NHL players, the program was dropped due to the rising cost of traveling to distant campuses to compete. USIU also maintained an NCAA Division I basketball team. USIU's women's softball team appeared in one Women's College World Series in 1982.
Alliant International University maintained a sports program for a few years but phased out its intercollegiate athletics programs in 2007.