Q. Is Perelandra College accredited?
A. Not currently. We were accredited by the Distance Education Accrediting Commission but gave up that status essentially because accreditation required more money and energy than we could afford while pursuing the college’s mission.
Q. What is accreditation all about and what are the benefits of accreditation?
A. Accreditation is meant to be a process by which schools are evaluated by their peers (other educators) in order to assure that the schools are legitimate and their degrees and classes are worthy of acceptance for a variety of purposes Accreditation has, however, become a gatekeeper through which agencies, who may not be composed primarily of experienced educators, coerce schools into following expensive business practices and paying exorbitant fees in order to qualify to receive federal financial aid funds.
A degree from an accredited institution is often required to allow a graduate to proceed to the next educational level, or to qualify for a job, a license, a promotion, or a pay raise.
No institution is restricted, except by its own policies, from accepting the classes or degrees of any other institution, accredited or not. Classes or degrees from a non-accredited institution can often be accepted through a petitioning process.
An institution is not required to be accredited to offer a degree. However, in many states, licensing is required before an institution can offer a degree. Still, in these states, the licensing requirement does not always apply, as exemptions are often allowed.
From the California Private Postsecondary Education Act of 2009, Section 94874;
(e) (1) An institution owned, controlled, and operated and maintained by a religious organization lawfully operating as a nonprofit religious corporation pursuant to Part 4 (commencing with Section 9110) of Division 2 of Title 1 of the Corporations Code, that meets all of the following requirements:
(A) The instruction is limited to the principles of that religious organization, or to courses offered pursuant to Section 2789 of Business and Professions Code.
(B) The diploma or degree is limited to evidence of completion of that education.
(2) An institution operating under this subdivision shall offer degrees and diplomas only in the beliefs and practices of the church, religious denomination, or religious organization.
(3) An institution operating under this subdivision shall not award degrees in any area of physical science.
(4) Any degree or diploma granted under this subdivision shall contain on its face, in the written description of the title of the degree being conferred, a reference to the theological or religious aspect of the degree’s subject area.
(5) A degree awarded under this subdivision shall reflect the nature of the degree title, such as “associate of religious studies,” “bachelor of religious studies,” “master of divinity,” or “doctor of divinity.”
Q. Is Perelandra College exempt from the licensing requirement in accord with the statute cited above.
A. Yes, we are formally recognized by the California Bureau of Postsecondary Education as exempt in accord with the above regulation.
Q. Will my employer accept my classes or degree from Perelandra College for practical purposes such as a raise or reimbursement of tuition?
A. Perhaps. The better you can explain the benefits of the classes or program, the more likely they will be accepted.
We do not exist to train workers for specific wage-earning jobs although our programs would particularly benefit those in ministry. We feel confident that for any practical purpose regarding an occupation in Christian ministry, our degree will be quite acceptable.
Q. What should I take into consideration before applying for admission to Perelandra College?
A. We are dedicated to educating students to deepen their spiritual visions and to live valuable, productive, rich, fulfilling and happy lives.
Q. What is the college policy on grading?
A. The only class grades we assess are CR for Credit and NR for No Record, which is equivalent to No Credit except that the class will not be entered into the student’s transcript.
Although some may argue that to exclude the reflection of failure on a transcript might encourage students to simply drop a class they might have completed if dropping risked a permanent negative mark on the record, we have decided that should a student fail to pass a class, the payment of tuition and the effort put in for no obvious benefit is quite enough of a penalty. A failed class should not haunt a student’s future.
By granting credit for a class, a professor certifies that the student has satisfactorily completed all assignments.