RA MA in Biblical and Theological Studies - $199 per credit

Belhaven University has one of the cheapest RA master's programs I've come across in this field.

https://online.belhaven.edu/master-biblical-theological-degree.htm

 

Bumping this old post by Sanatone for anyone new that may have interest. 3 years later the tuition is still $199 per hr, 36 hrs, all online. SACS.

 

@Michael Burgos, can you tell us about the experience, can you tell us something about the experience, coursework, assessment, theology, etc. of this program?

 

I didn't attend. I was just randomly looking at various grad schools for someone else and came across it. I then searched this forum to see if anyone had already posted it and came across Sanatone's post from 2021. They identify as an Evangelical Christian school, have SACS accreditation, and their classes are in an accelerated 7-week format. That's about all I know.

 

Belhaven is an evangelical school within the Reformed tradition and has close ties with First Presbyterian Church in Jackson (PCA). The program is well-rounded and depends entirely on Third Mill resources (also Reformed). Dr. Jeff Brannon, who oversees the program, has put together a solid faculty. The courses require significant writing (typically research papers related to the reading) and quizzes related to the lectures. Dr. Richard Pratt (ThD from HDS) and other notable lecturers attend the weekly live sessions along with/ the faculty and interact directly with students.

 

Thanks for all of that. Good info. Would you recommend them based on your experience?

 

I took a number of bible/theology courses at the undergrad level (Briercrest and Eugene) and all required a fair amount of writing in a Turabian format. When I did my major courses (12 in full) in leadership at Bellevue all came with significant writing assignments but in MLA format. When I later did my masters in organizational performance I thought my fingers might fall off. All I have known in my studies are tests and quizzes that count for a small portion of your grade along with discussion boards, accompanied by a lot of writing assignments and capstone projects. Are there grad degrees out there that don't require significant writing???

 

Oh, wow, that's the truth about even non-thesis Masters. I wrote more for any single class for my LL.M. than for an entire semester of law school.

 

Yes, although I'd like to see them expand course offerings for that program.

 

Most graduate-level programs in theology/biblical studies require either Turabian, the SBL Handbook of Style, or their own style based on one of these. Belhaven basically uses Turabian (9th), but under the guise of their own style guide. FTS uses both Turabian (basic citation, pagination) and SBL (ancient sources). I know that some of these competency-based programs don't require a ton of writing. You might check out Redemption Seminary, especially if you use Logos.