Pepperdine University Graduate School of Education and Psychology (GSEP), 2U and Behavioral Health Center of Excellence Form Innovative Partnership to Expand and Enhance Training for Applied Behavior Analysis Students

Scholarship offered to ABA students conducting supervised fieldwork with BHCOE-Accredited providers

LOS ANGELES, MALIBU, CA – May 3, 2022 — The Pepperdine University Graduate School of Education and Psychology (GSEP), its online program management partner, 2U, Inc. (Nasdaq: TWOU), and the Behavioral Health Center of Excellence (BHCOE), the organization committed to transforming person-centered behavioral health, today announced a new partnership that will increase the number of qualified training sites and improve the quality of training for applied behavior analysis (ABA) students.

Beginning May 3, 2022, GSEP and 2U will offer a new scholarship available to all employees of BHCOE-Accredited providers. BHCOE will oversee the training sites providing supervised fieldwork. GSEP will also provide approval for all BHCOE-Accredited sites to supervise students, enabling accredited sites an enhanced ability to recruit and develop trainees. The scholarship applies to 15 GSEP academic programs across on-ground, hybrid, and online learning, and provides a 10 percent tuition discount to newly admitted students who work for BHCOE-Accredited providers.

At the heart of ABA education is on-site, practical, supervised fieldwork where students learn the clinical skills critical for providing life-changing intervention to people with autism and related developmental disabilities. ABA fieldwork shapes professional and workforce practices and has a significant positive impact on the quality of ABA care.

“Identifying enough qualified training sites has been challenging for university ABA programs, and through this partnership we are demonstrating the joint commitment of GSEP,  2U and BHCOE to our students and to the future of ABA,” said, Adel Najdowski, program director for the master of science in applied behavior analysis at the Pepperdine Graduate School of Education and Psychology. “We want our students to thrive and to be able to provide the highest quality care for patients. That requires leading-edge training based on national standards and measurements, which our students will receive at BHCOE-Accredited organizations.”

“BHCOE’s mission is to ensure and encourage safe, effective, equitable, patient-centered healthcare, and partnering with universities to increase the number of qualified training sites to educate students is central to that mission,” says Sara Gershfeld Litvak, BHCOE’s chief executive officer. “We admire the bold move that GSEP has made with this commitment to quality training, and we anticipate that matching students to BHCOE-Accredited providers will ensure exemplary training to follow the outstanding classroom experience they receive.”

“We are thrilled at the role 2U and its technology can play in enabling quality ABA-based care,” says Andrew Hermalyn, president of global partnerships at 2U.  “BHCOE’s international reach will help us support behavior analysis students across the world with quality-based, supervised training that aligns with the strong online academic program GSEP provides through our technology.”

Learn more about BHCOE’s Academic Program Partnerships or visit the Pepperdine | Graduate School of Education and Psychology web page.

About Pepperdine GSEP
The Pepperdine University Graduate School of Education and Psychology (GSEP) offers 20 innovative academic programs including 15 master’s programs, five doctoral programs, and continuing education programs for working professionals dedicated to building scholar-practitioners on five Southern California campuses and online. Since 1971, GSEP has been carrying out our mission to be an innovative learning community where individuals of diverse cultures and perspectives work collaboratively to foster academic excellence, social purpose, meaningful service, and personal fulfillment.

About 2U, Inc. (Nasdaq: TWOU)
For more than a decade, 2U, Inc. has been the digital transformation partner of choice to great non-profit colleges and universities delivering high-quality online education at scale. As the parent company of edX, a leading global online learning platform, 2U provides over 42 million learners with access to world-class education in partnership with more than 230 colleges, universities, and corporations. Our people and technology are powering more than 3,600 digital education offerings—from free courses to full degrees—and helping unlock human potential. To learn more: visit 2U.com.

About BHCOE
Behavioral Health Center of Excellence ® (BHCOE®) is an ANSI-Accredited Standards Developer and an accrediting body within the autism field. Over the last seven years, BHCOE has dedicated itself to transforming care for people with autism and related developmental disabilities through a relentless focus on serving as a source for the autism community on how best to improve the quality of care, safety, well-being and life for patients and families. To learn more about BHCOE, visit www.bhcoe.org.

Contact:

Anshula Ahluwalia
news@bhcoe.org
847-372-9091