Free Tuition & Fees Scholarships at Brite Divinity School

After even more thought, I've decided NOT to apply to Brite. The scholarship (if I got in) would be a great opportunity, but I have to be honest about my ability to keep up in courses that are not self-paced, and I don't want to take a spot from someone who can keep up. So, I'm going to pass.

Instead, I'm going to enroll in the free 94 credit hour Diploma of Divinity program through Christian Leaders Institute. I just learned about them 2-3 days ago. Talk about timing, LOL. They're an applicant with ABHE and had their site visit last month.

 

There is some material from this school that could potentially be very useful to students "assembling" a degree from various sources.
There is an extensive list of FREE Gen-Ed, credit-bearing courses - math, economics, psych - pretty complete. It's here.

https://study.christianleaders.org/course/index.php?categoryid=130

My only reservation - are these FREE, credit-bearing courses presently recognized for the stated credit at other schools? ABHE is a recognized National Faith-based accreditor, so no problem with NA recognition of the courses - when / if (there's always an "if") ABHE accredits the school. But what about right now?

 

PS - Always glad to see a religious school that lists "basics of scientific method" and "evolutionary theory" in its Intro to Biology course. Kudos!

 

Well I believe the Scientific Method was invented by a Franciscan Friar (and was a medieval philosopher who placed emphasis on the study of nature through empiricism).

Of course Mendel (father of genetics), LaMaitre (physicist) were all Catholic clergy. So it is part of a long tradition.

 

Well, Catholics held out on evolution for a long time, but OK. I'm thinking more of certain denoms today, e.g. Creationists and the like.

I remember a few years back an RA University in Texas wanted to teach a Master's in Creation Science. Their accreditor said "No, you can't. That's not science." Right. It never flew.

 

I don't have an issue with Intelligent Design/Creationism specifically (potentially two different things) but young earth Creationism is another story.

Astrophysicists like Dr. Jason Lisle's make an interesting case for young earth Creationism but the vast majority of scientists would dispute the young earth hypothesis (including Evangelical Christian Physicists, etc.)

 

Of course currently Brother Guy Consolmagno, based in Arizona, is the Vatican Astronomer. He’s a Jesuit brother, planetary scientist and directs the Vatican Observatory. Undergrad and graduate degrees MIT and PhD Arizona.

 

...Study of nature through empiricism. Isn't that what Aristotle, "The Great Observer" did, maybe 16-1700 years before the good Friar? The Church didn't like Aristotle much, until St. Thomas Aquinas reconciled his teachings with Christian faith. At least, a lot of them. I never read exactly what was said of Aristotle's findings re: homosexuality in the animal kingdom. Aristotle maintained that it was commonly observed (by him) in many species throughout the animal kingdom, usual incidence somewhere between 2% and 10% of individuals.

 

"Onward, Christian Physicists!"

 

I keep forgetting about Christian Leaders Institute. They have a reciprocity agreement with a few universities who will accept their Bachelors degrees for entrance into a Masters degree if you pay CLI $3,000 to have it awarded officially. Other than that, the coursework is free.

 

It is regular online lectures, synchronous mode?

 

They are online in synchronous mode so you would have to keep up with the pace of everyone else in the program.

 

Wasted I don’t think this will be suitable for me

 

I've applied as a Buddhist. I will post the results of my application.

 

I think I'll apply as a Total Fraud. Perhaps candor and honesty will get me some points...

 

I was wondering that too. I'm going to email my contact there and report back.

 

Will you attend if you get in? $75 is a lot to pay just to satisfy curiosity.

 

I was delayed in posting, but I got an answer to my email a couple of days ago. The free tuition and fees scholarship began Fall 2023 and will end Fall 2026. It will not be extended, so your program has to be finished by then if you want full tuition/fees covered. However, they do have other scholarships and grants available to students and if all continues as was prior to the free tuition/fees scholarships they will go back to offering all students 70% off their tuition.

Details about the other scholarships and grants that are available can be found in the Student Handbook. The tuition listed in the handbook is for 2021-2022 but, IIRC, it's still the same for the master degree programs at $1,000 per credit hour. But, with the 70% tuition discount tuition for the master's programs will be $300 per credit hour if you don't finish by Fall 2026.