Degree Programs at Luther Rice College and Seminary
Luther Rice College and Seminary appears in our ranking of the Top 10 Great Deals: Bachelor’s in Theology and Christian Studies Degrees Online.
Luther Rice College and Seminary offers five undergrad programs and five graduate degree programs that culminate in a full degree. Doctoral candidates can apply for a spot in the Doctor of Ministry program. The college offers this and two graduate degree programs through its seminary, which features courses designed for religious leaders.
There are three Bachelor of Arts programs available in Religion with concentrations in:
- Biblical Counseling
- Christian Worldview
- Ministry
Counseling majors will take Preparing for Christian Service, Biblical Counseling and Ministry, and other courses as they prepare to work with clients in the counseling field. They will also do a practicum that allows them to see what professional counselors do in biblical and clinical settings. The college also offers Bachelor of Arts programs in Business Administration and Economics. Each program can provide students with useful information regarding the operations of religious organizations today. All Bachelor’s degrees can be earned 100% online or through a combination of online and on-campus classes.
All graduate programs and programs from its seminary are available online. The college added online programs to help pastors and others who already went to college but want to advance their studies. Students can enroll in a Master of Arts program in:
- Apologetics
- Biblical Counseling
- Christian Studies
- Leadership
- Ministry
As with the undergraduate program, counseling majors will do a practicum and work directly with clients who need spiritual guidance and other types of help. Instead of requiring that students do this work in or around Atlanta, they can do their work in any city.
Both a Master of Divinity and a Doctor of Divinity are available through the seminary part of the college. Students can transition from the master to the doctoral program and finish both in around five to six years of work. An impressive 96% of graduates of the divinity program report being satisfied or extremely satisfied with their college experience. Those students will take four core classes that require they do a four-week residency on the Luther Rice campus. The college allows them to do all the work towards their final projects and to take all remaining classes online.
About Luther Rice College and Seminary
Luther Rice College and Seminary started as a traditional seminary called Luther Rice Seminary. It was established in 1962 by a small group of pastors and religious leaders. It offered courses for students who wanted to attend a seminary but did not want to leave Florida for school. Though some students lived in and around Jacksonville, others enrolled in distance education programs. Those programs allowed pastors to learn skills that would help them as they worked with their parishioners. It gave them the freedom to continue living and working in their own cities as they went to school. Also called Luther Rice University at one point, it now uses the Luther Rice College and Seminary name and has its campus in a suburb of Atlanta, Georgia.
The college continues focusing on distance education programs for pastors and others who work in churches and religious organizations. Most of its students study online, though they can also enroll in any traditional program too. Both the college and its campus are quite small. The campus is home to Williams Hall and a number of other buildings with a historic look. Luther Rice College and Seminary has an enrollment of:
- around 500 undergrads
- more than 700 graduate students
- around 40 doctoral candidates.
Luther Rice College and Seminary Accreditation Details
Instead of seeking regional accreditation as other colleges do, Luther Rice College and Seminary sought religious accreditation from a major accrediting body. It wanted to show students that it would respect their faith and believes. That accreditation comes from the Association for Biblical Higher Education.
Luther Rice College and Seminary Application Requirements
All students applying to Luther Rice College and Seminary will use the same application. It has a “New Students” button that they should select. The student will then create an admissions account and use it to complete the application. This is the same account they must use when checking on their application status and when looking at where the college is still waiting on any information or documents. There is a $50 application fee.
The college requires official transcripts for all students. Those applying to a bachelor’s program will submit their high school transcripts. Graduate and doctoral students will submit their college transcripts. Any student who would like to transfer credits into a Luther Rice program must supply official transcripts from any school where they received credit. The college also requires the email address and name of a character reference. It will send a character reference form to that individual and ask him or her to write a statement on the Christian character of the prospective student. Students must also take a Bible knowledge test and receive a passing score before they can enroll. Luther Rice College and Seminary will not accept any student convicted of a felony.
Tuition and Financial Aid
Ranked among the top 10% in most affordable American private colleges, Luther Rice College and Seminary keeps its costs low because it knows that pastors may not have much money. Bachelor’s students will pay a $100 technology fee for each course they take. They also pay $238 per credit hour for classes taken on the Georgia campus and $284 per credit hour for courses taken online. Graduate students pay the same rate for on-campus courses and $274 per credit hour for their online classes. Candidates in the doctoral program pay $1,081 per class, which includes a base tuition rate and the technology fee.
Luther Rice College and Seminary offers a variety of financial aid options that include loans and scholarships. Students who receive funding from a sponsor must download a form and have the sponsor fill it out and send it to the college. This lets the college bill the sponsor rather than the student.
Scholarships are available through a tuition assistance program that supplies funds to students with a high level of need. The college determines that need based on the individual or family contribution shown on the FAFSA. Students can also use both state and federal aid. They can use that aid to cover the costs of any of the Luther Rice College and Seminary degree programs.