Trinity Theological Seminary and the University of Wales

It appears that Trinity has sought out another route to becoming respectable after their recent bid for regional accreditation failed...

The following degrees are validated and awarded by the University of Wales, UK

Bachelor of Arts in Biblical Counseling
Bachelor of Arts in Biblical Leadership and Ministry
Bachelor of Arts in Biblical Studies

Master of Arts in Biblical Counseling
Master of Arts in Biblical Leadership and Ministry
Master of Arts in Biblical Studies
Master of Arts in Theology

The following statement is also found in their most recent catalog...

"Trinity is actively working towards an application for accreditation with a U.S. Department of Education (USDE) recognized agency for all of its programs not already validated by the University of Wales."

Apologies if this has already been posted to this board... I ran a search and didn't find any posting resembling this information...

 

Keep in mind that this is not the same Trinity that is regionally accredited:

http://www.tiu.edu/

 

Even on the outside chance that Trinity becomes accredited, their past phony claims will seriously hamper any shot at respectability.

 

Indeed, thanks for pointing this out.

Trinity Theological Seminary is not Trinity International University in Deerfield, IL. It is also not affiliated with TIU's Trinity Evangelical Divinity School or TEDS, the denominational seminary of the Evangelical Free Church.

Trinity Theological Seminary is the former Toledo Bible School. I encourage those attracted by TTS' website and marketing to do a search on this school by its former name at this site or on Google for a fuller perspective.

 

Any comments re: the University of Wales now granting degrees from studies completed at the otherwise unaccredited TTS?

TTS also appears on the U of Wales website... To me this seems to be a step-up from buying the Liverpool sticker for your TTS degree diploma...

 

Upon closer examination I was very surprised to discover that the Wales validated TTS degrees are quite different from the standard TTS degrees...

http://www.trinitysem.edu/validateddegrees.html

As compared to the non-validated TTS degrees...

http://www.trinitysem.edu/DegreePrograms/DegreePrograms.html

Each of the MA degrees require a 20,000 word dissertation... and the Trinity literature has the distinct UK flavour... to such an extent that I am witnessing the UWales influence in the TTS programmes...

 

It's definitely a positive step. It apparently means that recipients of U. of Wales degrees earned through the validated Trinity C&S programs will receive 'GAAP' degrees. I'm less sure what it means in terms of academic credibility.

It's interesting that a school that unsuccessfully sought American regional accreditation can turn right around and do this. I'm not sure what to think about that. It might mean that NCA/HLC weren't satisfied with Trinity's administration and internal oversight, while Wales is now proposing to perform many of those functions. Or it might just mean that Wales is hungry for money. (Perhaps a bit of both.)

It's part of a much larger pattern at the University of Wales. As of October 2007 when I compiled the list (from the U. of W. website), the U. of Wales awarded its own degrees for work completed in validated programs offered by the following providers:

Wales

1. Coleg Harlech Wea/Cag
2. Llandrillo College
3. Royal Welsh College of Music And Drama

Rest of UK

4. Birmingham Christian College
5. Brittin College, London
6. Cavendish College, London
7. Doncaster Business School
8. European School of Osteopathy
9. Greenwich School of Management, London
10. Hereford College of Arts
11. Holborn College, London
12. Inchbald School of Design, London
13. Kaplan Aspect
14. Mattersey Hall, Doncaster
15. Mctimoney College of Chiropractic
16. Ncc Education
17. Northern College of Acupuncture
18. Oasis Trust
19. Oxford Centre For Mission Studies
20. Rayat London College
21. Regents Theological College, Nantwich
22. Resource Development International (RDI)
23. School of Psychotherapy And Counselling Psychology (SPCP)
24. Regent's College, London
25. Scottish School of Herbal Medicine
26. Spurgeon's College, London
27. The International College (THINC)
28. The Northern Guild For Psychotherapy
29. The Organisation For Professionals In Regulatory Affairs
30. The Prince's School of Traditional Arts
31. Wessex Institute of Technology

Belgium

32. Continental Theological Seminary (CTS)
Belgium
33. International Academy of Osteopathy, Ghent
34. United Business Institutes, Belgium

Czech Republic

35. Anglo-Americká Vysoká Å*kola
36. International Baptist Theological Seminary, Prague

Denmark

37. Lutheran School of Theology, Aarhus

Finland

38. Iso Kirja College, Keuruu, Finland

France

39. Institut Superieur De Gestion, Paris

Germany

40. Allfinanz Akademie Hamburg In Co-Operation With Fern Universitat Hagen
41. Osteopathie Schule Deutschland

Greece

42. Alpine Centre For Hotel And Tourism Management Studies, Greece
43. British Hellenic College, Athens
44. The Centre For Management And Administration, Greece

Ireland

45. Carraig Eden Theological College, County Wicklow, Ireland
46. Galway Business School
47. Irish Bible Institute, Dublin
48. Limerick Senior College, Ireland
49. Portobello College, Dublin

Italy

50. Accademia Italiana
51. Bertrand Russell Campus, Milan
52. Domus Academy, Milan, Italy
53. Istituto Formazione Operatori Aziendali
54. Istituto Superiore Di Osteopatia, Milan
55. John Cabot University, Rome
56. Pentecostal Faculty of Theology And Religious Studies (PFTRS) Aversa

Poland

57. Bielska Wy?sza Szko?a Biznesu I Informatyki Im. Józefa Tyszkiewicza, Poland
58. Lazarski School of Commerce And Law, Warsaw
59. Wyzsza Szkola Biznesu - National-Louis University, Poland

Romania

60. Fundatia Pentru Promovarea Invatamantuliu European (FINE) Romania
61. Romanian Bible University, Bucharest

Russia

62. St Petersburg Christian University, Russia

Spain

63. Ceade, Seville
64. Centro San Luis, Bilbao
65. Cesine - Cesine, Escuela Superior De Informatica Y Negocios
66. Ceste, Zaragoza
67. Eade, Malaga
68. Escola Universitaria De Negocis De La Caixa De Terrassa
69. Escuela De Negocios, Caixanova, Vigo
70. Escuela Superior De Comercio Internacional Y Marketing (ESCOEX) Las Palmas
71. Escuela Superior De Comunicacion, Granada,
72. Formatic Barna, Spain
73. Fundación San Valero, Zaragoza, Spain
74. Instituto Superior De Medicinas Tradicionales, Barcelona
75. International University Study Centre (IUSC) Barcelona, Spain
76. Mediterranean University Centre
Of Science And Technology (MUST) Valencia

Switzerland

77. Graduate School of Business Administration, Zurich
78. Robert Kennedy College
79. University of Business And Finance Switzerland (UBFS) Wettingen

Bahrain

80. Bahrain Institute of Banking And Finance

China

81. Academy of Continuing Education (ACE)
82. Foshan University, Guangzhou
83. Guangdong Polytechnic Normal University (GPNU) Guangzhou
84. Guangdong University of Business Studies, Guangzhou
85. Renmin University of China, Beijing
86. Research Institute of Tsinghua University in Shenzhen (RITS) China
87. South China University of Technology (SCUT) Guangzhou
88. Sun Yat Sen University, Guangzhou
89. Tianjin Polytechnic University
90. Tsinghua University, Beijing
91. Wuhan University of Technology (WHUT)

Dubai

92. The International College (THINC)

India

93. Accman Business School, Greater Noida, New Delhi
94. Image College of Arts, Animation And Technology (ICAT) Chennai, India
95. Tasmac, India
96. The Association For Theological Education By Extension (TAFTEE) Bangalore

Indonesia

97. Universitas Indonusa Esa Unggul, Indonesia

Japan

98. Advanced Studies Institute (ASI) Tokyo
99. Environmental Institute of Japan Inc.
100. Human Academy

Malaysia

101. Fazley International College, Kuala Lumpur
102. Help University College (HELP) Kuala Lumpur
103. Kasturi College, Kuala Lumpur
104. Klc, Malaysia

Singapore

105. Informatics, Singapore
106. Learning Capital School of Higher Education, Singapore
107. Management Development Institute of
Singapore
108. Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts (NAFA) Singapore
109. Raffles Education Corporation, Singapore
110. Thames Business School, Singapore
111. Turning Point Business School, Singapore

Sri Lanka

112. Imperial Institute of Higher Education, Sri Lanka
113. Sri Lanka Law College, Colombo

Egypt

114. Modern University For Technology And Information (MTI) Cairo

Ghana

115. Ghana Christian University College , Accra
Canada

116. College D'etudes Osteopathiques, Canada

United States

117. Trinity Theological Seminary

It's an extremely mixed bag. My guess is that many of them wouldn't qualify for American RA. With Wales, they seem to functioning as remote sites or something. Here in the US, remote sites are often just suites in offce parks and don't maintain all of the administrative functions that accreditors want to see. The home base does that for them. But the British seem a lot freer than the Americans about naming entirely separate education providers as remote sites.

The British equivalent of an American accreditor, the Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education indicates (in their report on the U. of W.) that they are aware of this abundance and see no problem with it. If the QAA proposes to make site-visits to all of these things, they sure must be racking up the frequent-flyer miles. (Join an accreditor, see the world!)

It makes me wonder if the University of Wales has visions of becoming the international answer to the University of Phoenix and getting richer than Midas in the process.

 

So if I'm getting this straight, Trininty will be issuing degrees that are GAAP through Wales?

 

As I understand it, TTS will be orchestrating the study within the guidelines set by Wales. Wales will issue the degree, which would be classified as GAAP. The TTS and Wales websites each proclaim this agreement so I'm not seeing the appearance of any game-playing by TTS.

From what I've seen of this thus far things are looking quite legit. The discovery of the separate curriculum for the Wales validated degrees and noting the distinct differences between the Wales validated degrees and the usual TTS degrees cause me to see this TTS venture in a different light than what I've seen of TTS in the past.

Up until now I have looked at TTS with a very disappointed opinion. Their quest for RA accreditation was surprising, and the results were predictable. They still announce that they are committed to earning USDE recognized accreditation and this may be the first step that we can see to physically doing something to demonstrate their commitment to amend the past by changing the course of their future.

TTS aside, Wales does appear to be branching out into the international satellite campus world. Hopefully this financial bonanza (?) can be very tightly controlled so that their reputation does not suffer (I won't even compare them to UoP... as UoP was NEVER a Wales before their multi-state enterprise happened).

Another side-note for TTS... tuition at the graduate level is US$196 per semester hour. They also announce a 40% tuition break for active and inactive US military. So perhaps I need to dive back into their website to hunt for the existence of a separate tuition schedule for the Wales-validated degrees... If the tuition is the same, with the 40% discount, this could be a real financial bonanza for the military!

 

Is "inactive" a code word for honorably discharged veterans?

 

In the opinion of this Navy vet, I'm guessing "inactive" refers to national guard and reserves who are not actively serving--just doing the weekend warrior thing.

Tom

 

The term "inactive" is not defined by TTS in the information that I have seen. I know of two common definitions... of which they are quite different.

Definition 1: Inactive duty (guard and reserve, including the retired reserve) as compared to active duty...

Definition 2: Inactive reserve (with no physical duty commitment or retired reserve) and active reserve (drilling reserve/guard).

I do not believe that they are referring to military veterans who did not retire or have no further service commitment.

 

UK vs. US graduate degrees

Here's a question for our more esteemed colleagues who are able to quantify a comparison between typical UK and US graduate degrees...

So what's the main difference in workload between a typical US graduate degree and a typical UK graduate degree? How many (US) pages does a 20,000 word UK dissertation (= US thesis) run up to?

 

A US master's thesis is usually 60 pages (15,000 words) and a US doctoral dissertation is usually 300 pages (75,000 words).