Excellence in Education Criteria

CERTIFICATION COMMISSION

Excellence in Education Criteria for Private Faith-Based Institutions

1. Private faith-based degree granting institution academic excellence standards are patterned after our early historical U.S. educational institutions of higher learning. They equal or exceed the minimum standards of many State Departments of Education.

2. A faith-based degree granting postsecondary education institution may offer distance learning programs to students via non-traditional classroom-based education. These programs may include digital learning or any type of learning that is facilitated by technology. The institution shall evaluate and approve all instructional materials provided to students through various modalities, along with structured units of information, assigned exercises for practice, and examinations to measure achievement. The academic year for distance learning may be continuous throughout the calendar year.

3. A faith-based degree granting postsecondary education institution may offer blended learning which combines online learning with other modes of instructional delivery including onsite instruction; it involves a shift in delivery to an online or computer-based environment for at least a portion of the course with the goal of improving learning, staffing, and/or facilities productivity.

4. As a prerequisite for entering an institute, college, university or seminary, associate of arts, associate of science, Bachelor of Arts, or bachelor of science degree program at a faith-based postsecondary education institution, a student must hold a high school diploma or high school equivalency diploma, unless the institution has a written ability-to-benefit admissions policy exempting the student from the prerequisite.

5. One academic hour equals 50 minutes of scheduled instruction by a professor during an institution-approved class session or live streaming via Zoom or a similar mode of distance or blended learning instruction. One semester credit hour of study equals 15 academic hours or its equivalent.

6. The minimum credit hours for institute, college, university, or seminary degrees are as follows:

  1. For an associate degree, 60 semester hours
  2. For a graduate of theology degree, 90 semester hours
  3. For a bachelor’s degree, 120 semester hours.
  4. For a master’s degree, 30 semester hours above the minimum credit hours required for a bachelor’s degree, including a research thesis or project of 6 additional semester hours
  5. For a doctorate degree, 30 semester hours above the credit hours required for a master’s degree, including a stringent research dissertation or project of 6 or more additional semester hours.
  6. Each degree program will require total credit hours within the established practice for degree programs in the sector of institutes, colleges, universities, and seminaries.
  7. Honorary degrees must be based on documented merit criteria, include the title ‘Honorary’ on the degree title line, and be gratuitously awarded.

7. The degree programs offered by a faith-based postsecondary education institutions for institute, college, university or seminary must include liberal arts and general education courses that include humanities or fine arts, social and behavioral sciences, English or communications, history, philosophy, science or mathematics, and computer literacy when a student lacks computer proficiency.

8. An institution offering institute, college, and university degree programs without liberal arts and general education courses must use the word “in” instead of “of,” such as “Associate in Bible,” “Bachelor in Bible,” or “Master in Bible,” without the terms “Arts,” “Science,” or “Doctor in Bible,” and degrees without the terms “Philosophy,” “Theology,” or “Education.” and shall not use degree titles that the sector of institutes, colleges, universities, or seminaries use.

9. A minimum of 30 semester credits must be earned at the institution before the awarding of any earned degree or diploma.

10. Life experience credits applied to transcript at graduation only and are limited to 12 semester credits, 3 credits per academic year, for undergraduate degree programs only with administration approval.

11. Master Thesis is a minimum of 50 pages 8 ½ X 11 typewritten double spaced in size 14 type or less.

12. Doctoral Dissertation is a minimum of 120 pages 8 ½ X 11 typewritten double spaced in size 14 type or less.

Academic Credit Guidelines

The American Council on Education in its Credit Recommendation Evaluative Criteria, states, “normally, academic credit is assigned based on one semester credit hour for each 15 classroom contact hours plus 30 hours of outside preparation or equivalent. The “hour” is 50 minutes in length.

Therefore, 15 classroom hours is equal to 15 x 50 minutes or 12.5 clock hours for one credit. A 3-credit hour course would equal 12.5 clock hours, times 3 for a total of 37.5 clock hours. The outside preparation or equivalent would be 75 clock hours.

 
Undergraduate

One undergraduate semester credit hour of instruction given to students equals:

  • Fifteen (15) fifty-minute (50 minute) class sessions of scheduled instruction given to students. In class contact hours with professor includes an administration approved class session, live streaming, via Skype or similar live professor instruction with assigned reading, written project, quizzes, and final exam.
  • Two-hundred twenty-two (225) pages of assigned reading with prescribed reading report documentation, written project, quizzes, and final exam.
  • Or any combination of blended methods of study which equal one credit hour of classroom study.

Graduate

One graduate semester credit hour of instruction given to students equals:

  • A. Fifteen (15) fifty-minute (50 minute) class sessions of scheduled instruction given to students. In class contact hours with professor includes an administration approved class session, live streaming, via Skype or similar live professor instruction with assigned reading, written research project, quizzes, and final exam.
  • B. Three-hundred seventy-five (375) pages of assigned reading with prescribed reading report documentation, written research project, quizzes, and final exam.
  • C. Or any combination of blended methods of study which equal one graduate credit hour of classroom study.

Fair Practice Standards

1. A faith-based postsecondary education degree granting institute, college, university or seminary domiciled in or operating in any state or country shall have the following published in its catalog and/or website and made available to each student prior to enrollment:

  1. Purpose and mission statement, its educational programs and curricula;
  2. Nondiscrimination policy stating that it accepts single male and female students or married male with female students without respect to age, color, race, or national origin;
  3. Clear and specific policy regarding the transferability of credits to and from other postsecondary education Institutions.
  4. Written refund policy stating that an enrolled student may receive a full refund of paid tuition only if the student notifies the institution within 10 business days, or less, after the date upon which the first payment receipt is issued by the institution.
  5. All other fees and charges must be listed separately in nonrefundable section;
  6. Clear statements about financial assistance and obligations for repayment (if any);
  7. Employment assistance that refrains from promising or implying employment guarantees (if any);
  8. Procedures for handling student complaints, disciplinary actions, and appeals (if any);
  9. And ensure that all advertisements are accurate and not misleading.

 
2. A faith-based postsecondary education degree granting institute, college, university or seminary domiciled in or operating in any state or country shall include a disclaimer on its publications and Internet website if the institution is accredited by an agency that is not recognized by the United States Department of Education.

3. A faith-based postsecondary education degree granting institute, college, university or seminary domiciled in or operating in any state or country will not use an accrediting agency not recognized by the United States Department of Education unless it publishes a disclaimer on its web site, documents, and promotion material that it is not recognized by the U.S.D.E.

4. A faith-based postsecondary education degree granting institute, college, university or seminary domiciled in or operating in any state or country that issues any license for the purpose of counseling, or preaching, will include a disclaimer stating that the license is an ecclesiastical license and not a state-issued or government-issued license.

5. Non-degree certificates that are non-transferable to degree programs issued by faith-based postsecondary education degree granting institute, college, university, seminary, ecclesiastical organization or business entities domiciled in or operating in any state or country are exempt from the provisions of any state or country statutes pertaining to degree granting institutions.

6. A faith-based postsecondary education degree granting institute, college, university or seminary domiciled in or operating in any state or country will comply with applicable state or country statutes.

7. Any individual, institute, college, university, seminary, ecclesiastical organization or business entity domiciled in or operating in any state or country that offers sales and marketing of franchises, branches, degrees, honorary degrees, licenses, or certified certificates for individuals, institutes, colleges, universities, seminaries, or ecclesiastical organizations will comply with regulations under the appropriate state or country requirements for Business and Professional Regulations.

8. A faith-based postsecondary education degree granting institute, college, university or seminary domiciled in or operating in any state or country shall provide documentation demonstrating compliance when requested by the CPCA.

Confidentiality Disclosure Policy

1. Certification staff and their attorneys will be sharing their attorney’s legal strategies and mental impressions with our clients, FCPC and CPCA members and interested parties. United States law and individual state laws as they relate to attorney-client privilege and/or work product privilege provides for confidentiality of all these matters by any party they are shared with, as well as, excluding any individual or organization from attending or being a party to this information.

 
2. CPCA member institutions, their staff, or supporters and friends agree to keep all these legal strategies and mental impressions confidential unless they are granted permission in writing via certified mail or proof of delivery method with a signed receipt by the CPCA or their attorney, Frederick H. Nelson, Esq.

3. CPCA member institutions, their staff, or supporters and friends will only share information about the CPCA that is available to the public on the CPCA web site, www.cpca-edu.us.

4. All other information and correspondence disseminated by the CPCA or their attorney in correspondence, electronically, or verbally is covered by this Confidentiality Disclosure Policy and cannot be disclosed without getting specific permission.

 

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