Trinity College and Seminary

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For other institutions named Trinity College, see Trinity College.

Trinity College of the Bible and Theological Seminary, also known as Trinity College of the Bible; is a nondenominational Bible college and seminary located in Newburgh, Indiana. Trinity offers distance education programs at undergraduate, graduate, and doctoral degree levels for self-directed adult learners. Programs include Diploma, Associate, Bachelor, Masters, Doctorate, and PhD. Trinity claims more than 7,000 active students worldwide.^[1]

1 Campus
2 History
3 Program
4 Accreditation
5 Notable faculty
6 References
7 External links

[edit] Campus

Trinity's 9-building campus ^[2] is located in Newburgh, Indiana, about ten miles east of Evansville. There are several schools in the area, including the University of Evansville and the University of Southern Indiana, with which Trinity has made library arrangements for local and visiting students.

[edit] History

Trinity College and Theological Seminary was founded by Dr. John D. Brooke in April 1969. In mid 1978, Trinity moved to Evansville, Indiana, and changed its focus from offering traditional on-campus degree programs to its current emphasis on distance education, providing undergraduate, graduate and post-graduate courses for self-directed adult learners. In 1981, the school relocated to Newburgh.

[edit] Program

Trinity has more than 70 full-time employees on campus, including 11 faculty members. As of July 2006, Trinity officials counted a total of 97 faculty, with most located off campus.^[1]

Trinity offers various distance education learning formats and delivery systems, such as audio-delivered courses, online and video courses, dispersed-residency intensive seminars on campus and at other locations in the United States and the United Kingdom, and an annual Human Rights Conference in France (available for academic credit).

[edit] Accreditation

In January 1992, Trinity achieved accreditation with the National Association of Private Nontraditional Schools and Colleges (NAPNSC)^[3]. The NAPNSC, which accredits distance education institutions^[4], is not one of the higher education accreditation agencies recognized by the United States Department of Education or the Council for Higher Education Accreditation. Accordingly, Trinity is not accredited by any accreditation body recognized by its country. As such, its degrees and credits might not be acceptable to employers or other institutions, and use of degree titles may be restricted or illegal in some jurisdictions. [1]

Also, students who attend institutions of higher education that are accredited through accreditation associations not recognized by the US Department of Education will not qualify for Title IV funding (Pell Grants, Stafford Loans, etc.).^[5]

In 2004, Trinity was granted candidacy status for regional accreditation with the Higher Learning Commission of the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools. The institution provided a self-study report, hosted a team of North Central Association evaluators for a week-long visit, and expected a second campus visit in autumn 2006.^[1] However, Trinity resigned from candidacy status effective October 20, 2006.^[6]

Notwithstanding the lack of U.S.-recognized accreditation, from 1997 to 2002 Trinity had an arrangement wherein the University of Liverpool, England endorsed certain Trinity programs as being "of an appropriate level and quality."^[7]^[8] Since 2002 Canterbury Christ Church University (CCCU), United Kingdom, has endorsed Trinity's programs.^[8]^[9] Recently, however, information on the school's website is suggestive that the CCCU endorsement was dropped by the removal of any such reference to CCCU.

According to their latest announcement and the website of the University of Wales, Trinity College of the Bible has been officially validated by the University of Wales.^[10] This validation makes Trinity the first institution in the United States to hold such validation, and allows Trinity to offer degrees from the University of Wales, (rather than from Trinity itself) up to the graduate level. [It also explains Trinity's action of dropping all CCCU references.] Degrees from the University of Wales hold full Royal Charter from the United Kingdom. In contrast, the "endorsement" program from CCCU only allowed a student to receive a Trinity degree, with a seal of endorsement from Canterbury. Thus, Trinity College of the Bible is now offering its own degrees, which have no government Recognition in the United States, as well as offering University of Wales' degrees, which have full Royal Charter recognition in the United Kingdom.^[11]