I am currently enrolled in the DL program at Briercrest Bible College. As many of you know, Briercrest is a well respected school that is accredited by the AABC (NA). I see that Trinity Bible College has recently acheived candidacy status for RA. Trinity offers a better selection of degree options than does Briercrest, and they are more affordable. That being said, candidacy is no guarantee of anything. Should I stay with the sure thing in Briercrest or hinge my hopes on Trinity's more affordable, more diverse, and possibly RA program? Pug
Hi, Only you can really decide this. Nothing in education, especially concerning accreditation, is sure. Who would have thought ACCS would be in some difficulty with TRACS? Who would have thought Union would be in some difficulty with their accreditor? Both are good schools. I enrolled in Bethany Divinity College when they were a candidate for TRACS accreditation; they never made it. I enrolled in Golden State School of Theology thinking they would receive DETC accreditation; they never even made candidacy status. I am enrolled in California College for Health Sciences; they are DETC accredited. But, I have to tell you, I hold my breath they will still be accredited when I graduate. Not that there is anything going on with the accreditor, but, as I said, there is nothing sure with accreditation. Now, I am enrolled in Trinity. I am going to take a chance they will acheive NCA accreditation. If they don't, well, my track record will at least be consistent! I will share this email I received from NCA with you:
Jimmy, Have you taken any classes withTrinity yet? If so, what do you think? How do they compare to ACCS? As a side note...regarding GSST, I know what you mean. I know Dr. Graves. I have a lot of respect for him. I've actually approached him with the idea of becoming a partner in GSST, with the intent of moving the school toward accreditation. Without getting into a lot of needless and private detail, there were real reasons why GSST elected not to persue DETC accreditation. Most of these reasons were financial in nature. There were also one or two faith based reasons. Pug
At $100 per course, I would guess that there isn't a lot of cash to go around. It's a bargain but sure could use accreditation.
I was "at" TTS in the PhD for a year. I was fooled by the TTS claims for "global recognition and world- wide accreditation" through the , then, Liverpool connection. Those claims were devious and designed, IMO, to mislead prospective students. That is, TTS practiced lying for years. For that reason, I personally, would not go to TTS regardless of its possible future accreditation. Achieving RA does not erase , IMO, the years of deceit. But an individual must make personal choices based on personal convictions and, I guess, needs. There is no doubt that RA, should TTS acquire that, is better than NA for utility! My hunch is that TTS will get RA. My 12 page letter against that to the accreditor, NCA, never was acknowledged. The course requirements at TTS certainly in my experience were the equivalent of ACCS...where I also "went" for a year in the D.Min. Also the profs are better qualified...though in my experience they were just paper graders not really profs! They are paid, IMO, for their degree not for their ability to teach. Teaching IMO requires more than putting grades on papers, particularly at the grad level, it requires stimulating rigorous thought. This I did not experience ever at TTS as a result of a prof there. Neither did I at ACCS! IMO the present DA at TTS in Bible or Theology has serious deficits in terms of entry requirements and curriculum when compared to a doc in those areas from ANY other evangelical school that is RA. As I recall a MDiv/ThM combo in Bible/Theology at many schools requires more than the TTS DA. Certainly there is , last time I looked, no comparison between the TTS entry requirements and other such schools. TTS has the advantage of the Tdelta Forum where classes and many topics are discussed. I enjoyed that before TTS took ,IMO, my observations on the Liverpool connection as revealing their deceit and as a possible cause of loss of $ to them. That is, I was "expelled" from TDelta because I persistently said that TTS really was not really accredited. Instead of answering that claim TTS simply removed the miscreant--me. That part of Truth was not permitted on the forum. At least, that's my side of the story.
No, I am awaiting my books. As soon as they arrrive, and I evaluate the study guides, I will let you know. I never "went" to ACCS so I cannot comment on the comparisons.
Briercrest has a solid reputation in both the area of academics and integrity. Regarding TTS, I would trust Bill Grover's report of his experiences.
Thank you for all of your responses. Unfortunately I'm still up in the air. Jimmy, once you receive your first course please touch base with me.
pugbelly, Stick with Briercrest. They are a respected academic institution that is already accredited. As far as most seminaries are concerned, AABC accreditation is just as good as RA. You would be hard pressed to find a seminary that would not accept you for admission with a Briercrest undergrad. The fact is that if Trinity ever receives accrediation, they will still not be deemed credible by most in the evangelical academic world. Trinity has a history of outright lying to its prospective students and has gotten a very bad reputation that will takes years to live down. I have personal experience with the school and have been severely underwhelmed by the "school." BLD
Briercrest is honorable. TTS is at best--at best--equivocal. The "Trinity gamble" may work in terms of getting an accredited degree. By all reports you would do real work for such a degree. However, the history and practices of TTS militate against any informed person regarding a degree from TTS as a degree from an honorable institution. Review some of the earlier threads for more information. Is this necessarily an indictment of the personal motives of current "Trinity gamblers"? By no means. However, if I were hiring someone who appeared with a Briercrest degree, questions of integrity would not occur to me. In the case of someone with a TTS degree (with or without NCA accreditation), there would be such questions. They could be dispelled, but they would occur.
