Southern Evangelical Seminary

SES does hold accreditation by TRACS. TRACS is a legal, viable national accrediting agency.

http://www.ses.edu/about_accreditation.htm

SES does offer distance learning

http://www.ses.edu/external_introduction.htm

 

==In general SES does have a good reputation. Is it accepted by the SBC seminaries? That depends upon which one you are talking about. I know Southern will not accept credits/degrees from SES since it is not reginally accredited. However I do believe Southeastern does accept SES degrees. I don't know about the others.

Best advice...

You will need to email the seminary(ies) you are interested in and ask them if they accept SES degrees/credits. You will also want to look at any prerequisites those schools may have so that you will take the correct program and courses at Southern Evangelical.

God bless you in your studies!

 

I wouldn't suggest anything below a regionally accredited school (and if you can, you should get ATS as well) for entrance into SBC seminaries. It's a gamble with any non-RA school. They might take credits, and they might not.

 

While true, you're most likely going to be much better off if you have ATS and RA.

Are you planning to transfer credits from another seminary into an M.Div. program? If so, I would definitely go ATS, RA.

If you are planning to finish your degree then go to an SBC seminary, then you may have a bit more leeway.

 

Martin's Rant

==I know this comment is not normal "seminary" talk but there is no such thing as accreditation "below regionally accredited schools". I know, I know some seminaries think there is and they are wrong. They err in their thinking because certain people in those schools are very out of date in their thinking. I have had people in certain seminaries tell me that TRACS is not a recognized accrediting organization. Imagine their surprise when I proved to them they were wrong (see links below). Imagine! They work in the field and I don't, yet I know more about accreditation than they do! What a shame, what a crying shame!

TRACS is on equal footing with ATS according to the Council for Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA).
http://www.chea.org/Directories/faith.asp

TRACS is also recognized by US Dept of Education
http://www.ed.gov/admins/finaid/accred/accreditation_pg8.html#chred



Any school that tells you TRACS is not equal to ATS or RA is misleading you. They may be mislead themselves so I am not accusing them of lying. However I am saying that many of them don't have an up to date view of accreditation or TRACS. I am also aware of the fact that many of those individuals are seminary trained theological scholars and not education scholars. I have a close relative who does site vists with SACS, and has been to many schools including several seminaries. He agrees, there is no difference between SACS and TRACS. Both are US Dept of Education and CHEA approved.

Now there are several major seminaries that do accept degrees/credits from TRACS only schools such as SES. Anyone interesting in attending SES to earn their seminary degree and then going to another school to earn a DMin or PhD should FIRST check with the other school to make sure they accept SES degrees, and to get a list of admission prerequisites. Really a person should always do this regardless of the school.

Sorry to be so harsh, but this "seminary snobbery" has really gotten up my nose :laugh: . As long as a school is accredited by a recognized agency it should be accepted.

For crying out loud I earned my graduate seminary degree from Liberty Theological Seminary via their distance education program. I have now been accepted into a state University. They did not question my MA degree from Liberty. They did not ask if it was distance or residential (nor did they care). Yet there are seminaries that will ask such questions of those who graduate from Liberty, Luther Rice, etc. I know because when I was looking around at different programs several seminaries did ask. Interesting that none of the secular universities I looked at asked that question. Schools should not be asking these type questions, period. As long as degree is earned from an accredited school it should be accepted regardless of whether or not it was a distance/online program or a classical residential program.

The fact that there are Christian seminaries that will not accept degrees from other, fully accredited, Christian seminaries is an embarrassment.

 

Martin's Rant

sorry, double post.

 

We can deny it all we want, but there is obviously a perceived difference in quality at these institutions.

Now, that doesn't mean the perception is accurate, but at ATS/RA schools, the perception tends to be:

1st Tier--ATS/RA...maybe even the rare ATS only

2nd Tier--RA only or RA + TRACS, etc.

3rd Tier--TRACS or other national accrediting agencies but not RA

4th Tier (i.e. you're really lucky if they don't laugh at you)-unaccredited

-----------------
Is there some snobbery involved? Probably. But if you are thinking pragmatically, this set-up is probably close to reality at many seminaries.

 

IMO, it's more ATS snobbery than anything in the seminaries.

As far as my comment to "below"...it's in terms of utility.

Given the assumptions of many institutions, non-RA credits will not have as much utility on the average.

 

I would not deny that some seminaries view the world the way you have laid it out. These schools might as well also believe in a flat earth since they seem perfectly happy to ignore the facts. I am no fan of ATS, btw. Having said that I would say that ATS will change its tune on distance learning in the next five to ten years. They will have no choice.

 

Back to the original question...........

I attend SES, via extension. I can vouch for the quality of the education.....it is first class. Simply compare the curriculum, which is readily available on the website, with that of other seminaries, and you'll see the difference.

If you have any specific questions, let me know.