11-16-2020, 03:58 AM
I just finished the MTS at NationsU and would like to go on to a PhD in Biblical Studies program but I'm having a difficult time finding a program that 1. is legitimately accredited (regionally or nationally) and 2. is affordable. I would love to find a PhD program at a school that is financially and academically structured like NationsU (monthly tuition fee rather than per credit - study at own pace). I've looked extensively at Liberty University's PhD in Bible Exposition but it would cost $14k and this is the cheapest regionally accredited online program I could find. There is one nationally accredited program Antioch School but their program is a DMin and it ends up costing $11k after purchasing textbooks, etc.
If I went the non-accredited route I like Columbia Evangelical Seminary, though there seems to be a cloud hanging over the school due to the James White ThD issues with his dissertation. The price hovers around $6k, but that price I think is too high for an unaccredited school. I do really like their student-designed curriculum and all writing format (not tests). I also like that you have a mentor assigned throughout the entire program rather than jumping from professor to professor.
Someone online recommended the school he got a PhD from: Master's International University of Divinity. I've looked into it extensively as well and I really like it. Not as much as Columbia's student designed curriculum. But, I got my hands on all the syllabi for the PhD in Biblical Studies and compared the requirements with Liberty's PhD program and they are essentially the same. Liberty leans heavier on quizzes and exams while Master's leans more on writing assignments. MI is also at your own pace whereas Liberty you are hampered by semesters (which is ridiculous). The overall price for MI would end up costing less than $2000 since I can put 40+ hours a week into study and they have a monthly payment plan of $200 down, $105/month and when you graduate you're done paying. The program does have a dissertation at the end with a dissertation defense online. It is exactly the same for Liberty and the dissertation page count minimum requirement appears to be exactly the same between them.
My problem is: this school is non-accredited. I have to ask why. Why not go through the process of getting at least nationally accredited. They have affiliate status with a national accreditor (not sure what that really means or why an accreditor would do that) and there are regionally accredited schools that work with MI. A quick search online shows many people in church ministry and non-accredited academia with degrees from the school. It's in my price range, it's the right degree and I could finish in about 6 months. But, am I going to be paying $2000 for a useless degree in the end?
I really can't justify paying $14k for a degree from Liberty when seminaries are pumping out Doctorates by the truckload. There's no chance I can get a job teaching online or even at a seminary. Not sure I would even want to. I have no real interest in paid ministry (I have a comfortable job already and after that job is over I will retire). I am doing the groundwork now on launching courses online with the possibility of starting an online philosophy/theology school focused on the subjects I'm really passionate about. Tuition would be free. No degrees. Just a certificate for each course and for finishing the entire program.
I've seen other para-church ministry teachers get sketchy PhDs so they can put the "Dr." title on their books and training material for marketing purposes. But that just seems a little sleazy. I have a Master's in Theology from a nationally accredited school. I would imagine that would be fine. It is certainly not to teach at unaccredited seminaries. They all want PhDs. Nations wants PhDs and you don't even get paid there, its all volunteer teaching. Redemption Seminary (which I would love to teach at) currently requires a PhD but it does not have to be accredited. But, they said if they ever get accredited (which means they're moving that direction) then unaccredited PhD's would be out on their ear.
I would like nothing else than to just start working on my online curriculum and launch courses I'm interested in and enjoy teaching (even if I don't make money at it - this is really not the goal). But, for some reason, I can't get the idea of completing a PhD out of my mind. I keep coming back to it. It keeps me up at night. I think I would enjoy the program at MI, but after all that work, all that effort, will it be a degree that I would have to explain and will always have that stigma of "unaccredited" attached to it?
Do you personally know of anyone who's gotten a doctorate from an unaccredited school that is happy with it, gainfully employed at an unaccredited seminary or school or teaching ministry? Or would I be better off to just call it quits and move on without the degree?
If I went the non-accredited route I like Columbia Evangelical Seminary, though there seems to be a cloud hanging over the school due to the James White ThD issues with his dissertation. The price hovers around $6k, but that price I think is too high for an unaccredited school. I do really like their student-designed curriculum and all writing format (not tests). I also like that you have a mentor assigned throughout the entire program rather than jumping from professor to professor.
Someone online recommended the school he got a PhD from: Master's International University of Divinity. I've looked into it extensively as well and I really like it. Not as much as Columbia's student designed curriculum. But, I got my hands on all the syllabi for the PhD in Biblical Studies and compared the requirements with Liberty's PhD program and they are essentially the same. Liberty leans heavier on quizzes and exams while Master's leans more on writing assignments. MI is also at your own pace whereas Liberty you are hampered by semesters (which is ridiculous). The overall price for MI would end up costing less than $2000 since I can put 40+ hours a week into study and they have a monthly payment plan of $200 down, $105/month and when you graduate you're done paying. The program does have a dissertation at the end with a dissertation defense online. It is exactly the same for Liberty and the dissertation page count minimum requirement appears to be exactly the same between them.
My problem is: this school is non-accredited. I have to ask why. Why not go through the process of getting at least nationally accredited. They have affiliate status with a national accreditor (not sure what that really means or why an accreditor would do that) and there are regionally accredited schools that work with MI. A quick search online shows many people in church ministry and non-accredited academia with degrees from the school. It's in my price range, it's the right degree and I could finish in about 6 months. But, am I going to be paying $2000 for a useless degree in the end?
I really can't justify paying $14k for a degree from Liberty when seminaries are pumping out Doctorates by the truckload. There's no chance I can get a job teaching online or even at a seminary. Not sure I would even want to. I have no real interest in paid ministry (I have a comfortable job already and after that job is over I will retire). I am doing the groundwork now on launching courses online with the possibility of starting an online philosophy/theology school focused on the subjects I'm really passionate about. Tuition would be free. No degrees. Just a certificate for each course and for finishing the entire program.
I've seen other para-church ministry teachers get sketchy PhDs so they can put the "Dr." title on their books and training material for marketing purposes. But that just seems a little sleazy. I have a Master's in Theology from a nationally accredited school. I would imagine that would be fine. It is certainly not to teach at unaccredited seminaries. They all want PhDs. Nations wants PhDs and you don't even get paid there, its all volunteer teaching. Redemption Seminary (which I would love to teach at) currently requires a PhD but it does not have to be accredited. But, they said if they ever get accredited (which means they're moving that direction) then unaccredited PhD's would be out on their ear.
I would like nothing else than to just start working on my online curriculum and launch courses I'm interested in and enjoy teaching (even if I don't make money at it - this is really not the goal). But, for some reason, I can't get the idea of completing a PhD out of my mind. I keep coming back to it. It keeps me up at night. I think I would enjoy the program at MI, but after all that work, all that effort, will it be a degree that I would have to explain and will always have that stigma of "unaccredited" attached to it?
Do you personally know of anyone who's gotten a doctorate from an unaccredited school that is happy with it, gainfully employed at an unaccredited seminary or school or teaching ministry? Or would I be better off to just call it quits and move on without the degree?
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