Thread: New modular PhD at SBTS

The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary is offering some of their Ph.D.'s through a modular format. While the delivery is not exactly what most think of when they think "distance learning," the on-campus time should be as easy to manage as a typical D.Min. program.

Without endorsing them wholesale since I'm not Baptist (or even Southern :) ) there are some genuine advantages to this offering:

• Regional and ATS accreditation. RA/ATS research doctorates that you can pursue without moving aren't exactly common.
• Low fees for Southern Baptists due to the SBC's cooperative something-or-other fund
• Reasonable fees even for those outside the SBC.
• 11 different concentrations to choose from, including Christian Philosophy, Apologetics & Worldview, World Religions, etc.

Negatives include:

• Some Baptists will be turned off by SBTS' strong commitment to Calvinism (incidentally, the view of the founders of the SBC.)
• Some non-Baptist Christians may be turned off by the SBC's traditionally heavy emphasis on Baptist distinctives, but hey, come on, it's their school.

Hope some of you out there find this a useful option!

I'm not a Baptist, but SBTS is a pretty good school (not Harvard or Yale) but I'm definitely considering that if I decide to go after a PhD in Bible

Sorry folks, I somehow didn't get the link copied in like I thought I had. Here it is.

I seem to recall that ATS had some sort of rules that made low-residency theology doctorates hard to deliver...

Usually ATS limits the amount of courses that can be taken in a distance format to 1/3 of the hours of the degree.

Originally Posted by ewillmon

Usually ATS limits the amount of courses that can be taken in a distance format to 1/3 of the hours of the degree.

Thanks. From memory, that rule used to be 50% of masters degrees could not be delivered through online modality. Never heard of a rule about doctorates.

If you're interested, the degree standards can be found on the ATS website. Most programs will specify how many courses can be completed through a distance format. Regent University launched a PhD in Renewal Theology a few years back with ATS approval and it includes a mix of on-campus modular courses and distance classes. Maybe the ATS is allowing universities and seminaries to explore alternative means of providing their degrees, but this is by far the exception, not the rule.

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