Palo Alto University

Palo Alto University, usually called PAU, is a small, specialized university based in Palo Alto. Psychology, counseling, social work and behavioral science are all it teaches. Most of its 1,169 students are in graduate programs. Many train in clinics that serve the public at low cost. For residents, that clinic network is the most practical reason to know the university.

This guide covers the university's history, programs, the community clinic, visits and getting there. Figures come from PAU's own website and its fall 2025 census as read in early November 2026. Check the Palo Alto University website for current details.

Location and campuses

PAU's main campus is at 1791 Arastradero Road in the foothills of southwest Palo Alto. It is about 6 miles by road from downtown, or 15 minutes by car. The campus is farther out Arastradero Road than Gunn High School, near the Pearson-Arastradero Preserve, so a hike and a campus errand fit in the same trip.

PAU lists several teaching sites:

• Palo Alto campus: 1791 Arastradero Road. Open Monday to Friday, 8 a.m. to 9 p.m.
• Mountain View campus and the clinics: 1172 Castro Street, Mountain View.
• Stanford Psychiatry Building: 401 Quarry Road, Stanford.
• Stanford School of Medicine building: 1070 Arastradero Road, Palo Alto.

History

The university began in 1975 as the Pacific Graduate School of Psychology. According to Wikipedia, a group of students and faculty founded it to deepen training in clinical psychology, with Robert Kantor as the first president. Allen Calvin became president in 1984.

Key dates since then:

• 1986: accreditation by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges, held continuously since.
• 1988: the school moved to East Meadow Drive in Palo Alto. Kurt and Barbara Gronowski founded the community clinic the same year. The Ph.D. program also won American Psychological Association accreditation.
• 2002: the school and Stanford launched a joint Psy.D. consortium, accredited by the APA in 2006.
• Late 2000s: the school took the name Palo Alto University. Wikipedia gives both 2006 and 2009 for the change.
• 2009: the Sexual and Gender Identities Clinic opened.
• 2018: PAU acquired CONCEPT, a forensic psychology training organization founded in 2009 by psychologist Patricia Zapf.
• November 2022: the Mountain View campus opened as the new home of the clinic.
• 2024 and 2025: a Ph.D. in Counselor Education and Supervision launched in fall 2024 and a Master of Social Work followed in 2025.
• March 2025: Farouk Dey became the university's fourth president.

PAU marked its 50th anniversary in 2025. It holds federal designations as a Hispanic-Serving Institution and an Asian American and Native American Pacific Islander-Serving Institution.

Programs

PAU lists eight degree programs:

The bachelor's programs are designed for community college students and graduates who want to finish a degree. Wikipedia says they are offered in partnership with local community colleges including De Anza College, Foothill College and the College of San Mateo.

The fall 2025 census gives a picture of the student body: 98% graduate students, 55% first-generation college students, a median age of 32 and citizens of 34 countries. The doctoral psychology programs are accredited by the APA and the master's counseling programs by CACREP. Over ten years, PAU reports that 93% of Ph.D. students who applied were placed at an APA-accredited internship. The figure for the consortium was 98%.

Admission and tuition

Each program admits on its own schedule, with applications through the PAU admissions site. PAU publishes a 2026 to 2027 tuition and fees schedule for incoming students in its online catalog and warns that tuition can rise each year with board approval. The schedule did not display in a readable form when we checked, so we have not listed per-unit rates here. Ask admissions or financial aid for the current figures for your program. PAU also posts an estimated cost of attendance for each program, which includes books, transport and living costs.

The Community Clinic

For Palo Alto residents the clinic is the most useful part of PAU. The Community Clinic, founded in 1988 by Kurt and Barbara Gronowski and long known as the Gronowski Center, offers evidence-based counseling and psychotherapy at a sliding-scale fee. Doctoral students provide care under the supervision of licensed clinical psychologists. PAU says it runs four teaching clinics open to the public.

• Who it serves: adults, children, teens, older adults, couples and families in Santa Clara and San Mateo counties.
• Common concerns: stress, trauma, grief, parenting, family conflict, relationship problems, social anxiety and children's emotional and behavioral issues.
• Specialty clinics: the Sexual and Gender Identities Clinic for LGBTQ+ clients and La Clínica Latina, which offers bilingual and bicultural services in Spanish.
• eClinic: a fully online clinic for people in California.
• Hours: Monday to Thursday 9 a.m. to 8 p.m., Friday 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. and Saturday 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
• Contact: 1172 Castro Street, Mountain View; phone (650) 961-9300.

The clinic is not a crisis service. Our mental health resources guide lists crisis lines and other local options.

Continuing education and public events

PAU's Division of Continuing and Professional Studies, called CONCEPT, offers webinars and on-demand courses for licensed clinicians, with continuing education credit toward licensure. PAU counts enrollments across 847 courses, two-thirds of the credit hours in forensic psychology. These courses are aimed at professionals rather than the general public.

The university also hosts public events. Its At the Forefront series has brought parents, educators and mental health experts together, most recently on youth mental health in the digital world. Check PAU's events page for upcoming dates.

Visits and information sessions

PAU does not run daily walk-in tours. Prospective students attend program information sessions, a spring open house or a virtual tour. In November 2026, the admissions site listed sessions for the M.A. in Clinical Mental Health Counseling on November 5 and 19, the Master of Social Work on November 4 and 18, the M.S. in Psychology on November 12 and the Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology on November 18. The spring open house includes 30-minute information sessions and chances to meet faculty.

Parking and transit

The Palo Alto campus has a private lot of about 90 spaces. PAU warns that it fills fast. The university's site shows a live counter of open spaces. Transit to Arastradero Road is limited, so PAU suggests carpooling and bicycling. Our biking guide covers routes into the foothills.

The Mountain View campus shares a parking lot and is easier to reach by transit. It is on Castro Street south of downtown Mountain View, within reach of the Mountain View Caltrain and light rail station. PAU students can earn commute incentives for using alternatives to driving.

Frequently asked questions