Sats

I am currently taking classes at SATS. They are well respected and fully accredited, equivalent to RA (South Africa has a very rigorous and respected accreditation process). They are more difficult than other classes that I have seen, though. For my last class on 1 & 2 Peter, I was required to write a 25 page research paper, as well as a proctored examination. The exam was a four question essay examination, with a 3-4 page per question minimum. The test had a 3 hour time limit. I had one research paper turned down, with a "This does not meet our standards" (along with a bunch of red writing describing WHY, LOL). I have since honed my writing/research skills.

Regarding their doctrine, think Southern Baptist meets Sovereign Grace Ministries. If you took C.J. Mahaney, and Mark Dever, and put them in a blender, you would have the doctrinal stance of SATS. :laugh:

Reformed, Charismatic (but not "crazy" charismatic, and they don't get pushy with it).

Also, they publish a small Theological journal called "Conspectus", which is in the libraries of nearly every major seminary in the world (such as Gordon Cromwell, the Masters Seminary, etc.). It is also published Logos Bible software.

In short, they are a very rigorous school.

BTW, the cost of a 3 credit hour (equivalent: SA uses a different credit system 4:1 ratio) class, costs a little over 100 bucks, with no extra "fees" from textbooks (they have DALRO licensing, and provide "readers" of the required books and textbooks).

I highly recommend it!

 

Hey, I forgot to mention one more cool thing about SATS...

IF you "pay online", it goes through a service, which automatically drafts the appropriate amount of money, to EQUAL the appropriate amount in Rands....

So what does this mean? Why is this cool? Well while the exchange rate means very little for those LIVING in Africa, it means a LOT for those who are trading in U.S. dollars for Rands. By watching the daily exchange rate, you can actually get a substantial discount!

For instance, the course I just ordered, is one on Apologetics. It costs 995 rands, for the course. Had I bought it a few weeks ago, when the exchange rate was 5 to 1, it would have cost me 199 bucks. BUT right NOW, the exchange rate is 7.5 to 1! So I got it for 132 bucks! I saved sixty dollars!

Now, that is a 3 credit hour course (equivalent). If you manage to play the market on every transaction, at an average savings of 20 bucks per credit hour, you can save
2400 dollars! This would mean an entire Bachelors degree, with NO transfer credits or aid, would cost just over 4000 dollars, or 500 bucks a semester, approximately..

Compare that to Liberty, where the same degree (without aid) would cost about 16,000!

Warning: this ONLY works with pay by card, to my knowledge..

I wonder if this would work for the Masters programs as well...if so, someone can pay their years tuition for the masters degree, for about 920 dollars right now,

For SOME reason, the doctorate program is already greatly discounted in dollars over rands. Not sure why..

 

At sats.edu.za you can read their statement of faith and pricing. I am a Conservative Baptist and am quite comfortable "there" doing assessment of undergrad submissions and supervising masters' theses.