Preparing the Workforce Our Communities Need

For 80 years, Pacific Oaks College has expanded access to high-quality education while preparing graduates for meaningful careers that strengthen families, schools, healthcare systems, and communities.  

An investment in Pacific Oaks is an investment in economic mobility. More than half of its students are first-generation working adults, and two-thirds are pursuing advanced degrees to maximize their impact. By preparing these students with graduate-level expertise in education and mental health, Pacific Oaks is ensuring that the graduates don’t just find jobs – they secure high-value careers. These professionals return to their communities as leaders in early childhood education, elementary and special education, marriage and family therapy, social work, leadership, and human development, providing a massive return on investment for both their families and the public.

By embedding integrity, reflection, and meaningful, relevant topics into every program, Pacific Oaks prepares responsive leaders who are equipped to solve today’s most pressing social challenges. Its model is designed for the modern workforce; with evening, weekend, and online options, it ensures that being a working professional or a parent isn’t a barrier to degree completion and career advancement. Life and work experiences are celebrated and awarded academic credit. Cohort models provide a way for students to move through a degree program together for ongoing peer support.

Compassionate and Community-Focused 

For Desirée Hermosillo, Pacific Oaks offered more than an education: it offered the vision of a possibility. By attending Pacific Oaks, Hermosillo found a community-focused education that encouraged her to pursue a mental health career where professionals from different backgrounds remain underrepresented. With Pacific Oaks’ support, Dr. Hermosillo is now a clinical psychologist, a licensed marriage and family therapist, and the founder and CEO of Hermosillo Family Therapy, Inc., a group practice delivering accessible, responsive care across the lifespan.

“Pacific Oaks prepared me for the work I do every day. It strengthened my ability to connect with clients in an authentic and attuned way,” says Hermosillo, PsyD., LMFT.

Pacific Oaks provides students with hands-on training that accelerates their transition into high-need careers. At a time when California faces growing shortages of qualified educators, behavioral health professionals, social workers, and community leaders, Pacific Oaks is helping build the workforce our communities need. California is projected to need more than 55,000 additional behavioral health clinicians to meet current demand. Recent California workforce studies report that there are also ongoing teacher gaps, particularly in special education and high-need schools. More than 25,000 teaching positions were unfilled or staffed by underqualified personnel at the start of the recent school year.

The college’s flexible degree pathways, employer partnerships, and cohort-based learning model enable working adults to advance their careers while remaining engaged in the communities they serve. Many graduates continue to work locally, applying their education where it has the greatest impact – supporting children, families, schools, and underserved populations.