Cheapest Master of Divinity

DETC accreditation

 

Thanks; I appreciate the info!

 

While you're discussing divinity degrees, how about the "cheapest" (NA) D.Min in Pastoral Counseling?

Thanks!

 

Not sure, but I promised our very dear friend Hille Beth that I'd get started making a thread for theological degrees similar to the MEd Sticky and the MBA Sticky when I get finished with the MBA Sticky. Stay tuned!

 

I'll also find a good DMin thread to pirate and make a state-by-state list.

 

Michael,

Broad acceptance across denominational boundaries is a worthy goal, but a restrictive requirement. At least it makes the decision relatively straightforward. For your stated goal, DETC and TRACS schools are not worth considering. Even the high quality you could get from some foreign grad degrees won’t guarantee that broad acceptance. It looks like you have two choices.

1. Be willing to take one step back from acceptance across denominational boundaries and settle for acceptance from a few, or even one. Contact the denominations you are confessionally compatible with and ask them: Will you accept the London B.D. or Stellenbosch, Cape Town, et al. M.Th. as a qualification for ordination? The established mainline denominations may be a harder sell, but even within those circles it can’t hurt to ask. If one approves, get it in writing and go for it!

2. Use Federal Financial Aid to augment your money and scholarships and get the ATS-accredited M.Div. that will get you where you want to go.

If you develop any specific questions about schools/profs, feel free to PM me.

 

Not sure if you're opposed to student loans but if you attend an accredited school you will be able to borrow right at $20k a yr for tuition/living expenses. Beyond that, you could take a graduate plus loan.

I know the thought of loans is daunting, but check out this new federal student loan forgiveness program. If you intend to work at a college or non-profit religious org then a good deal of your debt could be forgiven.
http://www.ibrinfo.org/what.vp.html

 

Excellent and Thanks!!

 

I'll look forward to it!

 

Thanks Dave for your suggestions.

Here's a little more about my situation: Actually, I am the founder and head of a new (six years old) independent "catholic" communion. I and most of our ministers are self-supporting, and many, including myself, have lots of ministry experience and have studied church history, theology, etc. for many years. Most of us can't afford expensive degrees but would like to have an official affirmation (degree) of our ministry experience and private education/reading/research. Cost, though, as I said, has been and continues to be an obstacle.

Some of us have opportunities on occasion to minister for other denominations, but often we have encountered hesitancy because of our lack of recognized educational (theology) credentials.

I have an accredited 4-year degree from Excelsior college ( formerly Regents College), with my credits coming by way of CLEP tests and attendance at local universities. I had concentrations in English, social sciences, and religion/philosophy.

I would like to get an accredited (RA-equivalent) degree so that I may be able to minister in the mainline denominations, part-time, if the opportunity presents itself, and to teach.

I am busy with our communion, which has grown into a worldwide fellowship, but there are a LOT of needy small churches in my area without pastoral supply right now, and I would like to help them if at all possible.

But beyond that, I would like to get the degree just fro personal reasons, too. I am a creative person, and I would enjoy working on such a project. I do believe also that I have something worthwhile to contribute.

Thanks for listening.

 

How about this one:

Anderson Univesity (Regionally accredited)
Master of Ministry
http://www.andersonuniversity.edu/mminjt.aspx
"The Master of Ministry is a 21st century model for ministry education. The M.Min. differs from the traditional Master of Divinity degree by being shorter and more focused on practical ministry issues."

The website is not entirely clear on the # of courses/credits required ... but assuming 14 courses, and also assuming that they're 3 credits each, then the cost would be:
14 x 3 x $290 = $12,180
Or if it's 15 courses:
15 x 3 x $290 = $13,050

You probably won't find a cheaper RA degree, it's not an MDiv but sounds like a decent alternative. (Note that I have no knowledge of Anderson University (good or bad) other than what I've just read on their site.)

 

Thank you for the information. Very interesting program.

Unfortunately, $12,000 - 13,000 for a degree is a small fortune for me at this time since I'm on a limited income.

Not to offend anyone, but I don't see how people in small church or independent ministries can afford degrees that cost many thousands of dollars to complete. And actually I don't think it's right for anyone to come out of seminary and be so deeply in debt. Theology and ministry should not be a business, in my opinion -- that's a distortion of the Gospel.

 

What, praytell, do you mean by this?

 

I believe Michael is referring to the "business" of training persons for theology and ministry.

The sad reality is that operating a university or college costs a great deal of money, especially religious schools who may not receive any support from federal or state sources.

 

One thing to keep in mind: As far as I know, no ATS accredited MDiv (or other master's degree) can be done entirely online, since ATS has residency requirements for all their degrees. A lot of RA degrees also have residency requirements as well I think, but not all. (Ex, Liberty offers an entirely online MDiv because they are RA but not ATS accredited.)

Maybe this list would be helpful?
http://home.surewest.net/tcsmith/cde.htm
It says it was last updated in 2007 but might be worth going through anyways ...

 

How about all online for D.Min with ATS...or TRACS?

 

All DMin programs require an MDiv or equivalent, so that wouldn't really apply here.

Unfortuantely it sounds like what you're looking for (for the price you're looking to pay) is simply not available.

For example, Louisiana Baptist University (which is unaccredited but is one of the few unaccredited schools which I've heard some good things about) the cost for their MDiv is $8,820 (tuition only, not including any other fees). Now their MMin works out to be $3,528 ... but again they are not accredited by any US-recognized accreditation body.

So any degree you were to earn from somewhere that IS accredited will cost more than this. Ex, Luther Rice University (TRACS accredited) is known as one of the cheaper ones around, and their tuition fee is over x2 that of Louisiana Baptist U.

Would an accredited certificate help your ministry goals at all? Ex, BIOLA has their distance ed certificate in apologetics, it's $285 + grading fees:
http://www.biola.edu/academics/professional-studies/apologetics/certificate/distance/
I went through BIOLA's cert program and although I learned a lot, honestly it was not very difficult at all to earn the cert. I don't know what other cert programs might be available from accredited schools but if you think that kind of credential would help it might be worth exploring.

 

One could also try the following:

Seminary Extension has been discussed here before. Seems like a pretty good program.

Many colleges and schools use courses from the Institute of Theological Studies. For credit, one would need to enroll through an individual school, but you can order the materials for self-study.

 

How many schools do we need??

Let's be honest folks (knowing this will stir the perverbial hornet's nest),

How many schools do we need in this country? Some (including ATS) are so small it's a wonder they survive at all.

And let's also not kid ourselves...

In general, there are far more ministry candidates than ministerial / clerical openings.

Applied for a job lately? You have likely competed with 50+ other, well qualified people.

Further, as someone very mission minded, I fully agree that too many ministry 'grads' are so buried in debt they can't afford to consider missions.

This was a big issue with Dr. Ralph Winter (US Center for World Mission), may we always kindly remember him.

Mission candidates become ministry candidates often because we 'require' the outrageously expensive seminary training we do.

Off my chest, no let's have it.

 

I'm not sure whether ATS or TRACS has any specific residency requirements for the DMin, but the DMin degree is designed as a short residency degree. I suspect that, if anything, TRACS would probably be more willing than ATS to allow a totally non-residential DMin.