Faith Theological Seminary, Baltimore

Discussion in 'General Distance Learning Discussions' started by AAD, Nov 22, 2011.

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  1. AAD

    AAD New Member

    As far as I can tell, this is a brick and mortar schoolm but I'm interested if anyone has any info about it.

    Their accreditation tale is as follows: Faith Theological Seminary received its Candidacy Status for Accreditation from the Transnational Association of Colleges and Schools (TRACS) on April 13th, 2010.

    Tracs is somewhat unfamiliar to me too.

    Thanks for any help.
     
  2. emmzee

    emmzee New Member

    TRACS ( Transnational Association Of Christian Colleges and Schools ) is one of three USDE/CHEA recognized Christian accreditors in the USA.

    ATS ( The Association of Theological Schools ) is the "gold standard" for seminary accreditation. The main disadvantage is that they do not currently allow 100% online degrees, so any degree program done through an ATS accredited school will require at least one (probably multiple) on-campus visit(s).

    ABHE ( Association for Biblical Education: ABHE-Solutions ) is the second valid accreditor. The do allow 100% online programs.

    TRACS is sorta the third tier. In the eyes of USDE/CHEA it's equally valid with ATS/ABHE but in terms of prestige, it's not as highly regarded. ATS is clearly on top. When I mentioned I was thinking of attending a school that is not ATS accredited my pastor (who himself attended secular universities to get his PhD) was strongly in favor of attending only ATS schools. Someone with a degree from an ABHE or TRACS school will have a difficult time getting a teaching position at an ATS school (unless they wrote a popular book or have many years of experience as a pastor/missionary/etc).

    In terms of Faith Theological Seminary, I don't know anything about it specifically, it may be great or it may be mediocre. Achieving candidacy status is a good thing but it doesn't mean FTS is guaranteed to be accredited, and the process usually takes several years, so a person who starts at FTS now may complete their program before FTS achieves accreditation (meaning their degree would be unaccredited).
     
  3. AAD

    AAD New Member

    Thanks for the clarification. Despite having a degree from an ATS acredited school, I had no idea regarding other levels of religious schools' acreditation. I am close to FTS so I may a 'try and see course' which they offer at no cost.

    Thanks again.

    AAD
     
  4. BruceP

    BruceP Member

  5. AAD

    AAD New Member

    Yes, that's the school's link; sorry for not providing it.
     
  6. Fingkish

    Fingkish New Member

    Thanks for bringing this school to my attention. I'm slogging my way through Liberty's MAR (the former 45-hour, not the new 60-hour program). I may try auditing a course at Faith Theo. Sem. in the spring 2012 term. The school is local to me. Will report if I do, and how I find it.
     

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