Some parents and students are curious as to why Frontier School of the Bible and other Bible colleges, seminaries, or institutes have made the choice not to pursue accreditation. We share similar reasons for this choice, but the following are important points which will help answer this question from FSB’s prospective:
We believe it is vitally important to maintain self-government in academic policies, social policies, financial policies, philosophy, doctrinal position, hiring of faculty, and board of director issues. One of the major reasons schools pursue accreditation is access to federal aid. However, with that aid come regulations that can negatively affect the mission, doctrinal stand, and other critical areas of a school.
We attempt to keep our expenses at a minimum. The byproduct of this is that students are able to afford quality training for life and ministry. Accreditation significantly increases the cost of education. The cost for a full year of training at Frontier (tuition, room and board, fees) is just under $7,000 per year. Our students are able to complete their training with little or no debt. The average cost for a year of training at a private accredited Bible college or Christian university is often over $20,000 per year. It is very common for graduates of those schools to accumulate an overwhelming amount of school debt. Studies have shown that approximately 70% of college graduates have difficulty making student loan payments. Many students are not aware of how school debt can delay ministry plans and impact several other areas of life for many years.
As a technical Bible training institution, it is our desire to internally strive for and define excellence in education. Accreditation is not the ultimate determiner of educational quality.
For our type of training, accreditation is not needed. In our experience, most organizations are mainly concerned with the spiritual life and firm grasp of the Scriptures on the part of the graduate. FSB alumni are serving in a multitude of ministries all over the world. Many churches, missions organizations, and other Christian ministries recruit our graduates.
For FSB graduates needing further education in fields we do not provide and where a certain type of accreditation may be needed, several Christian colleges and universities accept our credits.