Accredited or Not

I hate to make this an issue but does Lancaster have a tax free status (or nonprofit organization)from the State? Does Lancaster keep track of tithes/offerings for it's members to utilize in tax deferments? His seperation of WCBC for the sake of keeping the worldly governmental orginzations away can be contradictory if the answer to the above is "Yes".

There is a balance in all things in life especially the Christian walk and to claim one over the other is bordering on unbalance.

 

I like Dr. Chappell's statement and agree with many of his sentiments. However, the issue is complex. Accreditation is not great but it does give some sort of Minimum Standards. Yes, you have schools like unaccredited Pensacola Christian College that are likely academic miles ahead of accredited schools like the University of Pheonix but how is one to know.

As MRCoon points out, how far do you push the gov't issue? Maybe you do not want to license your church van driver or register your van due to separation of church and state? Don't want the Fire Dept in there etc. There have been instances of people pushing this to ridiculous limits which amount to a dislike of regulation. I encountered one such incident myself. The law did not exempt the church from what amounted to minimum standards that had nothing to do with religion but the guy was adamant that he should have his organization exempt because they were a church. He lost but found a way around it.

Nord

 

Just because a school is not accredited doesn't mean it will necessarily lower your chances of getting accepted into another school (law school, med school, etc.) My cousin's wife graduated from BJU before it received TRACS accreditation and was accepted into Columbia Law School and she was given scholarships. Likewise I know of others who have been accepted into prestigious med school or post grad school despite the fact that their undergraduate work was unaccredited.

 

Ophelia, that is true in some cases, with BJU, for example.

Nevertheless, in the vast sea of unaccredited schools, there are not many BJU-caliber schools. Besides, with law school, the LSAT is the most important factor. Degree/GPA is pretty much secondary. Other examples may be due to a certain school's reputation.

Even so, I'd say with over 90% of unaccredited schools, you're going to have serious problems getting into accredited programs.

Sure it may be possible to overcome the lack of accreditation in some cases, but why risk it when you can just get a quality accredited degree, and you will know it won't be an issue?

 

Accreditation is never a problem for exceptional students. There are many examples of students at unaccredited schools going on to do graduate work at prestigious secular schools. The problem comes with ordinary students, with ordinary qualifications going to ordinary schools.

If you have the ability to get into Columbia Law School or Johns Hopkins Medical school the fact that you have an unaccredited degree is no big deal. But what about that average student with a B average who wants to go to law school at the University of South Carolina. Will his degree be excepted if it is non accredited?

I am not saying accreditation is everything, but it is one thing to consider.

 

Exactly, NCT.

If you get a 180 on your LSAT, no one is going to care where you went to school. Exceptions will be made.

 

Then you've named a couple of exceptions.

If you're headed for a professional vocation requiring advanced degrees (JD, MD, etc.), go to an accredited school.

Going unaccredited DOES hurt you in this case. IMO this is bad advice.

 

The strongest Christians are those who are growing in the midst of adversity. The church is growing the most where the Christians are persecuted the most.

Sometime read http://www.bibleteacher.org/Dm118_8.htm

 

Then you've named a couple of exceptions.

If you're headed for a professional vocation requiring advanced degrees (JD, MD, etc.), go to an accredited school.

Going unaccredited DOES hurt you in this case. IMO this is bad advice. </font>[/QUOTE]I wasn't saying you should just go to an unaccredited school anyways. I said that going to one doesn't necessarily mean you will not get in because I know of many - not just a few - who have graduated from BJU (I can't speak for other unaccredited schools) and been accepted into law schools, medical schools and prestigious post graduate school such as Harvard and Oxford. Would I advise someone to go to an unaccredited college if they wanted to further their studies at another secular college later on? Not necessarily. I am just saying that going to an unaccredited school (I speak mainly of BJU) will not necessarily mean you will never get in to a prestigious school later on.

 

BJU has at least been around a while, and most don't view it as a "diploma mill" or a sham (not slamming BJU, just speaking as I expect an admissions person would look at it). It also has name recognition. Many unaccredited schools, no matter how good they are, won't have those advantages.

An unheard-of, unaccredited school will cause many problems for potential students in many settings.

 

That - I agree with. There are very few unaccredited schools that I would recommend for those who are interested in pursuing advanced degrees at prestigious secular colleges.

 

There are no easy answers and many issues. I like plucky, stand on principles, unaccredited schools that offer quality programs. On the other hand in terms of stewardship as Rhetorician and others have pointed out RA is the way that offers the most utility. I am pursuing an unaccredited program but it would not be genuine of me if I did not note that I can somewhat afford to since I have two RA degrees and one TRACS degree.

Yes there are grads from Louisiana Baptist University & Pensacola Christian College that go one to earn accredited Masters on top of their unaccredited LBU/PCC undergraduate degree. Those are case by case basis rather than a rule! Also, BJU (now a candidate for accreditation) just happens to be arguably the most successful and well respected unaccredited school.

Even in terms of accreditation and versatilty...RA is the most versatile. ATS/TRACS are recognized National Accreditors but there is not the universal acceptance that there is with RA. I saw an RA Christian school once that demanded an RA Masters for their religious programs. In other words an ATS only Masters (most ATS are RA as well) would need special consideration.

Having said all of that as I said, I like integrity driven unaccredited schools (the few there are) or the TRACS/ATS only conservative Christian schools that try to avoid the giving in to the culture. But...if I were advising someone especially looking for a first undergraduate degree I would say go RA unless you are certain that you are not likely to ever need the degree outside of Christian denominational work. Once you have the undergrad degree that is RA you can consider other options (just my opinion). But for goodness sake with so many options like South African Theological Seminary and others that are so inexpensive at least try some form of accredited undergrad degree (AABC, DETC, TRACS, Foreign equivalent like SATS). Heck, a UNIZUL PhD (equivalent of accredited) has a total cost of around 1500 US dollars and has versatility. Cost need not keeep your from an accredited Christian degree.

Nord