Difference between degrees?

I don't think so. If one wants to teach, then one will need the PhD. How one gets there isn't as important. Most institutions are going to require an MDiv or its equivalent for admission to a PhD program (some accept scholarly MAs), so having an MAR or MMin isn't going to make a lick of difference. Schools are going to be able to tell that someone just "stacked" degrees, especially since they are going to request transcripts.

The reason for going to different schools is to avoid the suspicion of academic "inbreeding." It indicates an exposure to different institutions and different scholars.

 

Not necessarily.

(OK, my last post had TMI! Maybe this one has too little!)

Ed

 

Normally, I would think that it would be assumed that the second bachelor's degree would use the same "core" as the first. Since the first is unaccredited, I think the greater issue would be that a university would be more interested in the completion of the accredited degree.

I've never heard of any college requiring a complete "re-do" of the entire BA/BS for a second degree. Usually, you just have to complete the major requirements and any basics you may have missed while earning at least 30 or so additional hours for the second degree.

That being said, having a proliferation of undergraduate degrees isn't that impressive anyhow. I'm not saying that having two degrees is bad, but you won't get the mileage of having two graduate degrees. The exception is if the BAs are in sufficiently distinct fields.

For example, a person with a BS in Biology plus a BS in Chemistry would be well positioned for admission to graduate studies in either field, since the fields are complimentary but distinct.

A BA in creative writing plus a BA in English, though, probably wouldn't be as helpful.

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The deal is this: aside from churches, most people who would be in a position to evaluate these degrees know the system.

They recognize that the MDiv is a longer degree than an MAR, and they know that a ThM is another year beyond the MDiv.

Another factor to consider: few institutions offer these successive degrees. If you find anything, it's generally MAR to MDIV. Most places just have you study straight for the MDiv, if that is your ultimate goal. Some seminaries offer MAs in Biblical Studies or Theology, but these are academically focused. You don't find too many students doing the MA then the MDiv. The MAs are designed for research, so they basically take the MDiv, strip out the ministry courses, cut the "fluff," expand requirements for the specific field, and require a thesis.

 

It is probably a B.R.S. from what little I know - Bachelor's of Religious Studies. The second institution has every 'right' to do their degree any way they choose, as does the first. Incidentally, I said nothing about "course stacking", rather "degree stacking."

And once you earn the degree awarded, you have every 'right' to list it, if you so choose, whether or not there was some acceptance of courses from the first degree applied to the second degree.

Ed

 

Reading into posts?

The quality of a school is based on its instruction, not a personal relationship. I have friends who have degrees from less than wonderful schools but I cannot sanction the same based on our friendship. Furthermore, I know people with whom I maintain cordial relations that run less than wonderful schools. However, I cannot endorse their schools.

Also, you seem to infer an insinuation of fraudulence from my post. I wrote no such thing. They, Pillsbury College and Seminary, simply made a poor choice, whether by ignorance or avarice, in seeking accreditation from ACI.

Where do you find “a staunch advocacy of federal accreditation” in my post? Read my other posts from the past and you will find me defending the right of a school to be unaccredited. However, I do oppose any school representing itself as something that it is not. Furthermore, I vehemently oppose low standards and inflated degrees, especially masquerading in the name of Christianity.

I hold an unaccredited degree from BJU, which beat the game for many years by remaining unaccredited and offering a good quality education.

I have been a serious student of alternative education for over thirty years. I am a strong advocate for the right and liberty to have unaccredited education. However, this does not preclude me from calling a spade a spade and pointing out poor education.

Yeah, this is the pattern. Some of these schools are money-grubbing operations especially if you consider their very low overhead and operational cost.

 

Here's my $0.02 take:

1. It depends on the person's giftedness.

2. And it depends on the school the person goes to.