Online certificate in biblical counseling

[Jonathan Whatley]

Albert Trask, a government official in Yukon, Canada, titled himself "Dr." based on a PhD from a Transworld school. It became a significant scandal there. The newspaper Yukon News reported,

The problem stems from Trask’s insistence on signing all official correspondence with the honorific “Dr.” when he does not actually hold a PhD in any meaningful sense.

Trask received his so-called PhD in biblical studies from an unaccredited U.S. college - Newburgh Theological Seminary & College of the Bible - that possesses many tell-tale traits of a degree mill. As Adam Gaudry - who just finished four-and-a-half years of hard work to obtain a real PhD - explains in a commentary in today’s newspaper, it’s abundantly clear that the quantity and quality of work expected to obtain a Newburgh PhD is in no way comparable to what you would expected from a credible institution.

Quite simply, Trask should not be calling himself a doctor. To so do cheapens the work done by people who have actually gone through the slog required to obtain that credential. […]

The coursework for Trask’s PhD involves taking six classes, with each course comprising of reading a single book, then summarizing its contents in a 10-page paper. Sound like too much? Pay $175 you’ll receive a video of a lecture. You are then only expected to write a four-to-six page summary of the talk, and that course is complete. You can knock off half the coursework in this way.

As Gaudry notes, the total number of books expected to be read for Trask’s coursework is less than what you’d expect from a single graduate seminar at a credible institution. And real PhD students are expected to do far more sophisticated writing than simply regurgitating a book’s contents.

The dissertation requirements are similarly paltry. Trask would have been expected to write a paper of at least 60 pages, while real dissertations are usually several hundred of pages in length. There’s also no indication on Newburgh’s website that students are expected to do original research or that they’d receive the sort of supervision and scrutiny you’d expect for a real doctorate.

These standards are laughable compared to what is expected from a school accredited by the Association of Theological Schools, of which Newburgh is not a member. Instead, Newburgh claims to be accredited by Transworld Accrediting Commission International.

The problem is that Transworld isn’t a real accreditation body. The U.S. Department of Education calls such groups “fake accrediting agencies,” because neither the department nor the Council for Higher Education Accreditation recognize such groups.

But don’t worry: the school remains accredited by, well, God. “We feel the accreditation of God is on our school because we strive to please Him in academics and ministry training,” states the college’s website.

Don't be dim about dodgy diplomas (Yukon News, November 7, 2014)

As to ministers, sadly, diploma mills are popular among those ministers who use diploma mill credentials. As to seminaries, of course Transworld is "popular" among the seminaries accredited by Transworld.

Maybe the school you're investigating is not a diploma mill. Do you have evidence that should convince future critics?

[Bingbong]

Albert Trask, a government official in Yukon, Canada, titled himself "Dr." based on a PhD from a Transworld school. It became a significant scandal there. The newspaper Yukon News reported,

The problem stems from Trask’s insistence on signing all official correspondence with the honorific “Dr.” when he does not actually hold a PhD in any meaningful sense.

Trask received his so-called PhD in biblical studies from an unaccredited U.S. college - Newburgh Theological Seminary & College of the Bible - that possesses many tell-tale traits of a degree mill. As Adam Gaudry - who just finished four-and-a-half years of hard work to obtain a real PhD - explains in a commentary in today’s newspaper, it’s abundantly clear that the quantity and quality of work expected to obtain a Newburgh PhD is in no way comparable to what you would expected from a credible institution.

Quite simply, Trask should not be calling himself a doctor. To so do cheapens the work done by people who have actually gone through the slog required to obtain that credential. […]

The coursework for Trask’s PhD involves taking six classes, with each course comprising of reading a single book, then summarizing its contents in a 10-page paper. Sound like too much? Pay $175 you’ll receive a video of a lecture. You are then only expected to write a four-to-six page summary of the talk, and that course is complete. You can knock off half the coursework in this way.

As Gaudry notes, the total number of books expected to be read for Trask’s coursework is less than what you’d expect from a single graduate seminar at a credible institution. And real PhD students are expected to do far more sophisticated writing than simply regurgitating a book’s contents.

The dissertation requirements are similarly paltry. Trask would have been expected to write a paper of at least 60 pages, while real dissertations are usually several hundred of pages in length. There’s also no indication on Newburgh’s website that students are expected to do original research or that they’d receive the sort of supervision and scrutiny you’d expect for a real doctorate.

These standards are laughable compared to what is expected from a school accredited by the Association of Theological Schools, of which Newburgh is not a member. Instead, Newburgh claims to be accredited by Transworld Accrediting Commission International.

The problem is that Transworld isn’t a real accreditation body. The U.S. Department of Education calls such groups “fake accrediting agencies,” because neither the department nor the Council for Higher Education Accreditation recognize such groups.

But don’t worry: the school remains accredited by, well, God. “We feel the accreditation of God is on our school because we strive to please Him in academics and ministry training,” states the college’s website.

Don't be dim about dodgy diplomas (Yukon News, November 7, 2014)

As to ministers, sadly, diploma mills are popular among those ministers who use diploma mill credentials. As to seminaries, of course Transworld is "popular" among the seminaries accredited by Transworld.

Maybe the school you're investigating is not a diploma mill. Do you have evidence that should convince future critics?

Not really. I just found the school recently and the curriculum falls in line with what one of my immediate and long term goals. I was initially going to enroll in the psychology-theology at Queens College of theology, as I’m already pursuing a degree there, but this course has more of the counseling element I’m looking for, plus it’s self paced and not semester based.  I’m not interested in paying thousands for a secular counseling degree when this is, for a lack of a better phase, the best of both worlds.