My wife graduated from Northern Seminary on June 3, 2007. Think back, if you can, to that date and time. Here are few facts to help you. The iPhone didn’t exist yet (granted it would come later that month) Facebook had less than 60 million users (it now has 1.15 billion) Facebook didn’t have an…
We are facing unprecedented change in theological education. Enrollment is declining, financial models are being challenged, and longtime assumptions are no longer true. Students, accreditors, the federal government, and local ministries are all demanding more from seminaries and the system of theological education. What are we to do? I say it is time to learn…
The primary “competition” for seminaries is simply the decision not to go to seminary. Most data shows that seminaries don’t compete too much with each other. Rather, our primary competition is the option of not going to seminary. I think it is a result of the fact that our “because” is broken. Let’s look at…
According to data from ATS, there are five different revenue models for independent schools within ATS (70% of ATS seminaries are independent). I find the information provides great context for conversations among leaders of a given institution. Following a description of the data, I will share a few points of interest. Let’s look at the…