Accreditation and Membership
The Free Lutheran Bible College and Seminary is a member of the Transnational Association of Christian Colleges and Schools (TRACS) [15935 Forest Road, Forest, VA 24551; Telephone: 434. 525.9539; e-mail: info@tracs.org] having been awarded Accredited Status as a Category III institution by the TRACS Accreditation Commission on October 30, 2018; this status is effective for a period of up to five years. TRACS is recognized by the United States Department of Education (USDOE), the Council for Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA), and the International Network for Quality Assurance Agencies in Higher Education (INQAAHE).
Membership
The Free Lutheran Bible College and Seminary is also a member of the Association for Biblical Higher Education in Canada and the United States (ABHE) [5850 T G Lee Blvd, Suite 130, Orlando, FL 32822; Telephone: (407207-0808; email: info@abhe.org]
Frequently Asked Questions
This is good and quite an accomplishment. Basically “accreditation status” says that we are a member institution of the TRACS accreditation agency and have been considered to be in basic compliance with the accrediting standards. A “category III institution” says that the Free Lutheran Bible College and Seminary are currently approved to offer degrees through the master’s level.
The entire process of seeking accreditation with the Transnational Association of Christian Colleges and Schools or TRACS (tracs.org) has helped us sharpen our focus and make sure that everything we do is related to both our mission statement and our biblical foundations statement. Follow this link to learn more about the full benefits of accreditation with TRACS: http://tracs.org/documents/2015TheValueofNationalAccreditation.pdf
It helps greatly, but it still depends upon the institution and the focus of study being considered. FLBC credits transfer best into other Christian colleges with Bible-focused majors; however there are numerous colleges and universities accredited by TRACS, ABHE, and the regional accreditors that will consider full or partial transfer of credit from FLBC.
Yes. We care deeply about helping students transfer credits as they continue their undergraduate studies. Because of accreditation the transfer of credit can often now occur even without transfer agreements. As students express interest in studying at various institutions beyond FLBC, we seek to assist them however we can.
We have excellent teachers at FLBC, as our student evaluations consistently demonstrate. Some of our faculty that also teach graduate level studies at our seminary are continuing to study in advanced degree programs, which also positively impacts FLBC students. Our teachers love to teach, but they also value continuing to learn as students. When our schools consider potential new faculty members we are much more concerned the character of who is chosen than whether they have fully gained the desired academic credentials. We are committed to assisting with the ongoing training that faculty may undergo even after they are called to teach.
Current students will benefit through the quality of their student experience. Our heritage as a two-year, college level program where the main focus is the Bible remains. Our accreditation through TRACS is actually helping to strengthen this focus at FLBC.
Membership status was granted to the AFLC Schools in May of 2019. This connects us to over 200 biblical higher education institutions across North America. In addition to new resources and training opportunities, membership will allow FLBC grads to more readily transfer credits to ABHE schools. To learn more about ABHE and membership benefits go to https://www.abhe.org/abhemembership/.
We are not planning to do this for a variety of reasons. However, we are seeking the U.S. Department of Education identification number mentioned above that would also greatly assist seminarians if they desire to defer their undergraduate student loans during their time of seminary studies.