I just found this new MA in Theological Studies offered by Midwestern Baptist College (Southern Baptist Convention), a college affiliated with Midwestern Baptist Seminary. Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary – MBTS It's a 45 semester hour degree, like Liberty's MAR, I was considering it -- until I read the application for admission, several items of which I find offensive and frankly none of their business.
Interesting since MBTS is ATS accredited yet this is a "fully online degree." Does this mean this particular degree is not ATS accredited? MBTS is also RA by HLC so that wouldn't be a huge issue I guess, but perhaps a first for an ATS accredited school?
As I understand it, they are able to do this because the degree is being offered through their affiliated Bible college, which is RA.
This is the same strategy being employed by Grace Theological Seminary in Indiana. They have chosen to offer their fully-online masters degree (Hybrid-Online Programs) through Grace College in order to sidestep ATS residency requirements.
This does not look good for these 'religious' schools. And the fact that most claim their title under Christianity makes it worst.
I think most would agree that there are questions that are intrusive, maybe this is what the poster meant. Given the nature of the degree, the type of applicant they are looking for, and result they are hoping to produce I think the questions are completely appropriate though.
You can see the application here and evaluate it for yourself. I can see how some of these questions could possibly be perceived as intrusive, like for example: Better make sure that your spouse agrees, by the way, because your spouse also needs to sign off on the application. They will also want to know about your car loans, any visits to a psychologist, and your sex life. If you have ever been divorced, you will need to prepare a short essay outlining the chronology and circumstances. On the other hand, they don't require the GRE.
I have attended several Christian schools without having to give information like this school is requesting. I think the questions are intrusive. I would probably look somewhere else if it was me. Tom
Why do you say that, cravenco? Does it seem underhanded in some way? As long as the college has qualified professors to teach the courses, I'm ok with it. Tom
That's one way to look at it. But it's also true that the MATS degree program claims accreditation from the Higher Learning Commission of the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools -- which is a secular regional accreditation agency. If a degree program claims secular accreditation, then it is completely fair to evaluate it by secular academic standards. And by secular standards, the questions on the MATS application are absurd.
