California School of Herbal Studies

What California School of Herbal Studies does

California School of Herbal Studies (CSHS) is a private, for-profit educational institution founded in 1978 by herbalist Rosemary Gladstar, operating from an 80-acre sanctuary campus known as Emerald Valley in Forestville, Sonoma County, California. The school teaches Western herbalism through a structured curriculum spanning plant identification, wildcrafting, cultivation, medicine making, materia medica, therapeutics, first aid, nutrition, aromatherapy, and plant-spirit communication, with two multi-month intensive programs (Roots of Herbalism, Community Herbalist Program) serving as the core offerings and supplemented by long-term weekend series (Handcrafted Herbalism, Body Systems & Herbal Wellness, Herbal Essentials) plus a rotating catalog of single-day and weekend workshops.

CSHS serves beginning-to-intermediate adult students (18+, no formal educational prerequisite) and, secondarily, healthcare providers seeking to incorporate herbalism into existing practices. Its delivery model is exclusively in-person and on-site at the Forestville campus, where students engage with a half-acre medicinal plant garden containing 400+ herb species, an herbal lab and apothecary, and two multi-day camping field trips to California national forests. The Roots of Herbalism 2027 program runs March 16 – November 4 with classes meeting Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday weekly; tuition is $7,895 per student with a $595 non-refundable acceptance deposit and financing options available.

Revenue is generated entirely through tuition and workshop fees under a direct-to-consumer enrollment model. Students apply online via JotForm and complete an interview before acceptance. Marketing is conducted through the school's website (cshs.com) and an email newsletter signup (eepurl.com/gODfSL), with no app, no API, no digital learning platform, and no AI components. The institution has 1–10 employees, no disclosed funding, no parent company, no subsidiaries, and no enterprise customers; it operates as an independent founder-controlled entity now led by School Director Rebecca Maxfield.

Name

California School of Herbal Studies

Legal name

California School of Herbal Studies

Website

https://cshs.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1978

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

California School of Herbal Studies (CSHS), founded in 1978, is a private in-person herbalism school on an 80-acre Sonoma County campus offering multi-month intensives, weekend series, and workshops in Western herbalism for adult students and healthcare providers.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Forestville

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure, Others

Revenue model

1. Tuition and Course Fees: The primary revenue stream is tuition fees for educational programs. Roots of Herbalism intensive program costs $7895.00. Payment options include full payment by February 1, 2027 or financing arrangements where $3300 can be financed with $4000 due February 1 and $550 monthly payments from March through August. Weekend workshops and shorter courses likely have separate fee structures.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels2 records

Core offering

California School of Herbal Studies (CSHS) is an herbal education institution offering intensive and weekend programs in Western herbalism. The flagship Roots of Herbalism program runs March through November as a full-time seasonal course, complemented by the second-year Community Herbalist Program, weekend series courses (Handcrafted Herbalism, Body Systems & Herbal Wellness, Herbal Essentials), and a catalog of single-day and weekend workshops covering medicine making, aromatherapy, botanical skincare, and herb cultivation.

Product overview

California School of Herbal Studies offers a structured educational portfolio centered on Western herbalism. The core offerings include two intensive programs: the Roots of Herbalism (full-time seasonal intensive running March-November) as the foundational year-long course, and the Community Herbalist Program as a second-year advanced track. These are supplemented by weekend series programs including Handcrafted Herbalism, Body Systems & Herbal Wellness, and Herbal Essentials (with both Spring and Fall sessions). The school also provides a diverse array of single-day and weekend workshops covering topics such as medicine making, essential oil perfumery, mushroom medicines, botanical skincare, and herb cultivation. The program uses an 80-acre sanctuary campus with a half-acre medicinal plant garden, herbal lab, and apothecary.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Roots of Herbalism
• Community Herbalist Program
• Handcrafted Herbalism
• Body Systems & Herbal Wellness
• Herbal Essentials
• Herbal Medicine Making for Beginners
• Flower Essence Immersion
• Natural Perfumery with Essential Oils
• Grow Your Own Herbal Medicine
• Herbal Allies for Anxiety, Stress and Replenishing the Nervous System
• Lavender Harvest and Distillation
• The Amazing World of Mushrooms and Their Medicines
• Harvesting Medicinal Roots
• Botanical Cream and Lotion Making
• Herbal Holiday Gift Making
• Garden Volunteer Day

Quantifiable outcome

• 85% minimum attendance required for graduation
• +1 more outcomes

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• East West School of Planetary Herbology: East West School offers distance and in-person herbal training rooted in Western and traditional Chinese medicine, comparable to CSHS in curriculum breadth across materia medica, therapeutics, and clinical herbalism. It competes for similar serious students of Western herbalism.
• Herbal Academy: Herbal Academy offers online and self-paced herbalism education programs comparable in subject matter (materia medica, medicine making, plant identification) to CSHS's Roots of Herbalism. It is the most prominent online competitor in the same specialty niche and competes for the same aspiring herbalist student demographic.
• Southwest School of Botanical Medicine: Southwest School provides distance and in-person herbal training with a focus on clinical herbalism and materia medica. It is comparable to CSHS as a specialist herbal school targeting serious students of Western herbal medicine, though delivered primarily via distance format.
• Sage Mountain Botanical Studies: Founded by CSHS founder Rosemary Gladstar, Sage Mountain offers herbal education programs and retreats in Vermont with a similar Western herbalism focus and intensive immersion format. It is directly comparable as a sister institution in the same lineage and pedagogical tradition.
• Chestnut School of Herbal Medicine: Chestnut School provides online herbal medicine training and an apprenticeship focused on Appalachian and Southeastern medicinal plants. It overlaps with CSHS on materia medica, medicine making, and an apprenticeship-style curriculum, and competes for distance-learning herbal students.

Broad incumbents

• Bastyr University: Bastyr University is an accredited institution offering degree programs in naturopathic medicine, herbal sciences, and integrative health. It is comparable to CSHS as a larger, credentialed player in the same Western herbalism and plant medicine education space, though it delivers accredited degrees rather than short-form intensive certificates.
• Pacific College of Health and Science: Pacific College is an accredited institution offering degrees and certificates in integrative health including herbal and holistic programs. It is a comparable broad incumbent in the integrative/herbal health education space, with formal credentials CSHS currently lacks.

Regional players

• Maryland University of Integrative Health: MUIH is an accredited university on the East Coast offering graduate programs in herbal medicine and integrative health. It is comparable as a regional accredited peer in herbal higher education, though it operates in a different geography and at a degree-granting level rather than short intensive certificates.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/california-school-of-herbal-studies

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about California School of Herbal Studies