University of Santa Monica - History

History

The University was founded in March 1976 by Roger Delano Hinkins, an educator, author and lecturer who is also known as John-Roger and founder of the Movement of Spiritual Inner Awareness (MSIA). He was joined in 1980 by Dr. H. Ronald Hulnick and Dr. Mary R. Hulnick (former faculty members at New Mexico State University), who shortly thereafter took on the roles and responsibilities as President and Academic Vice President, respectively. In September 1981 the first master’s students were admitted.

The institution lacks educational accreditation. The use of unaccredited degree titles is legally restricted or illegal in some jurisdictions.

However, in January 1982, the University received state government authorization to grant degrees in the state of California, which was maintained in subsequent years under the California Bureau for Private Postsecondary and Vocational Education (BPPVE). In 2010 USM received similar authorization from the California Bureau for Private Postsecondary Education, the agency that replaced the BPPVE In July 1992 the University received BPPVE approval to offer a master’s program in Counseling Psychology with an emphasis in Spiritual Psychology, which fulfills the educational requirements for licensing as a Marriage and Family Therapist in the state of California.

The University’s status of “Institutional Approval” is the highest status an institution can achieve under the California Private Postsecondary Education Act; but is not the same as educational accreditation.