Trinity International University

Trinity expands online offerings.

HLC approves expansion of Trinity distance learning programs - Deerfield Review

 

It's about time . . .

Trinity is the parent university of the Trinity Evangelical Divinity School (known in the evangelical world as “TEDS”), which was an early provider in the wacky world of distance education. They were a key player in the founding of ACCESS (the Association of Christian Continuing Education School and Seminaries), an early organization of legitimately accredited schools that were engaging in distance education back in the late 80’s and early 90's.

TEDS is one of the “cadillac” schools in evangelical community, and is both regionally and ATS accredited. If ATS is finally becoming more flexible in allowing its members to offer degrees totally by distance, Trinity is the ideal school to set standards that other ATS schools can follow. In a way, though, they’re playing catch-up with Reformed Theological Seminary, which jumped the gun on them several years ago.

Disclosure: Trinity took over the Simon Greenleaf School of Law, which I attended for a semester back in 1987. SGSL then became RA under the Trinity banner, although the renamed Trinity Law School, which is Cal Bar but not ABA approved, dropped its master’s degree programs to focus on the J.D. SGSL's masters programs had a stellar faculty of well-known authors in the field of apologetics but, as I've written elsewhere, I moved on to do a similar program at Vermont College of Norwich University, where I was a much happier camper. I have fond memories of SGSL, but VC was more my cup of tea. Supplemental Disclosure: While I knew the folks from Trinity through ACCESS, which published an extensive interview with me in their newsletter after the release of NIFI, I consulted with Reformed Seminary during the early days of their distance program development.

 

Can you please read that really fast as if there are only few nanoseconds left in a commercial?

 

Not unless I had written it as one big-ass run-on sentence without any punctuation. In all caps. (Unfortunately, some people do write like that.)

I'm simply a stickler for disclosure - we've had too many instances on these boards in which people have commented on schools without disclosing their connections. (Especially in terms of those who heap praise on degree mills.) I simply hold that this type of conflict of interest, actual or in appearance, should be avoided. Hence, the "small print" above. That way, I can continue to be as perfect as everyone thinks I am. (Typing this in the quick reply box, so you don't get the tongue-in-cheek avatar this time.)