Tell me about...Faith based colleges w/o accreditation, but offering a degree recognized by the state?

[Tap]

DS21 has a chance to do his Masters in Ministry for free if he goes through Pacific Evangelical School of Ministry.  He knows a couple of students there (both are employed full time pastors), who feel like it is a decent program. They are starting year 2 of a 3 year program, so they have a good idea of the depth.  It is a distance learning type program where you do most of the work at home and then go to conference 3 days every couple of months.  He will be in the program with 3 other local people who he knows and respects, so he won't be doing this totally on his own. 

 

My concern is that it is not accredited, although  it is an approved degree to use in the State of Oregon. So the school is not a bogus school/degree mill.  He is Evangelical, and it is recognized by the Evangelical Church (the second program listed at this website).  So, as long as he stays in his own faith, he will not have a problem with recognition of his degree. I just don't know about other faiths or states.  

 

 

The next most logical program for him will cost about $15,000 from his Alma Mater and will require him to quit at least one of his jobs (he has 3 part time jobs).  It is an 'on campus' program and honestly I think he will get a lot more out of it, but he is already in $20,000 of student debt, so he is reluctant to take on more.   There are other options, this is just the most obvious other choice.   He already has an accredited BA in both Pastoral Ministry and Bible Theology.

 

 

Brochure for the program

 

 

Any ideas or comments welcome.

[Tap]

If the degree is accepted by his denomination changing states shouldn't matter. States don't (can't) set credentialing requirements for clergy.

 

If there's any chance he might want to be a military chaplain he should check to see if the degree would be accepted. I knew a Pentecostal pastor who had to return to school to enter the chaplain corps because his degree was unaccredited. I think his recruiter had other concerns too though, and the additional schooling might have been to address those.

Good thought about being a chaplain, but he absolutely doesn't want to be in the military. 

 

The fact that he is in the ministry, is the only reason I think he may be able to get along just fine with it.  It isn't like having an engineering degree that is unaccredited.  I do wonder if it will affect his future if he decides to pursue a doctorate.  I suggested today that he call a few local faith based universities  to ask them if they will accept the credits or not, just in case he wanted to get a higher degree so he can teach or do research in the future. 

[kiana]

You know, I clicked ready to say "NOPE NOPE NOPE" but on reading the actual post ... maybe yes! Here's why I say that:

 

1) It is not going to cost him money.

2) His denomination accepts it.

3) If he wants to do a PhD and they do not accept the coursework, it will just mean that he has to either challenge it (depending on their rules) or re-take it. In either case, having had the coursework is very unlikely to hurt him.

4) It is not going to cost him money. Yes, I listed that twice. I would NOT pay for an unaccredited degree unless I really had the money to throw away.

[momofkhm]

 I do wonder if it will affect his future if he decides to pursue a doctorate.  I suggested today that he call a few local faith based universities  to ask them if they will accept the credits or not, just in case he wanted to get a higher degree so he can teach or do research in the future. 

 

This is what would concern me.  The higher education part since you seem to have the denomination part down.

 

I have learned with nursing, it has to be an accredited degree, if you are going to get an upper degree at some point.  It's one reason I'm hesitant about dd going to Campbell for nursing.  It's a provisional accreditation until the first class graduates and they are re-evaluated.  DD will be in the second class to graduate.  What happens if they don't pass?

 

but as someone else said, he isn't paying for it, so it could be time lost but not money.

[Katy]

This is what would concern me.  The higher education part since you seem to have the denomination part down.

 

I have learned with nursing, it has to be an accredited degree, if you are going to get an upper degree at some point.  It's one reason I'm hesitant about dd going to Campbell for nursing.  It's a provisional accreditation until the first class graduates and they are re-evaluated.  DD will be in the second class to graduate.  What happens if they don't pass?

 

but as someone else said, he isn't paying for it, so it could be time lost but not money.

 

Totally an aside, but some nursing programs don't care as much about accreditation because you cannot fake your way through licensing exams.  Even the best schools have people fail nursing boards, and to many RN-to-BSN bridge programs all you need is the RN license and they automatically give credit for all the prior learning it took to pass the boards.  Look up the RN-to-BSN programs at state universities in your area to see if that's true where you live.

[abacus2]

For most applications, I would say absolutely not worth it to an unaccredited college. However, I think it could be reasonable for ministry, as long as the program has credibility.

[ktgrok]

I'd definitely check some universities that offer MDiv programs to see if they would accept a masters from there. And make sure they accept his bachelors too, for that matter.