WHY CHOOSE REFORMATION INTERNATIONAL COLLEGE & SEMINARY?
We offer a unique blend of flexibility, affordability, time-tested quality, and streamlined study.
Read on to learn more about our college and seminary programs, and click the box below to listen to three different lectures in our seminary program, one by Dr. Joseph Morecraft on the Covenants, one by Dr. Carl Bogue on the Westminster Confession of Faith, and one by Dr. Morton Smith lecturing on James and Galatians.
WE OFFER A UNIQUE BLEND OF FLEXIBILITY, AFFORDABILITY, TIME-TESTED QUALITY, AND STREAMLINED STUDY.
FLEXIBLE:
Through RIC & RITS, students:
- Take one course at a time, and you can take as much time on the course as you want (up to one calendar year), or finish it as quickly as you please.
- Study completely self-paced, allowing you to take college or seminary courses without having to put undue strain on your work or family, and without having to relocate and completely uproot your life.
- Instead, you can study from your own home and under the oversight of your home church and the elders that know you best and can best help you in your studies.
You can also enroll as a student:
- Without having to submit references and transcripts (for non-degree studies) if you just want to take some courses with us.
- If you then decide to pursue a degree, you can complete the full application (gathering references and transcripts) and have those grades/courses you previously completed applied as credits toward your degree.
Our doctoral program structure:
- Hearkens back to the methods of the Reformation and Puritan era, offering a unique pathway into the ranks of the Doctorate.
- For the student with a previous degree, our Doctorates are achieved primarily through independent research and writing/ lecturing.
- This is different than many doctorate programs today, where you take courses and complete assignments to earn your doctorate.
- Here at RITS, you will do independent research that is approved by a mentor from our doctoral committee, write, and then present and defend your thesis before our doctoral committee.
“I give my highest recommendation for the M.Div. program at Reformation International Theological Seminary! I began seminary at another distance-learning school but found the pedagogical model of RITS to be superior. The academic rigor, testing, interaction, and feedback allowed me to learn like in a “normal” classroom. I have several other brick-and-mortar degrees and did not feel slighted in the least to do this by correspondence. In fact, because I was transitioning to ministry later in life while working two jobs to provide for my family, the RITS program perfectly allowed me to work at my own pace. I heard about their program from a minister friend and it turned out another minister in my own Presbytery had graduated through RITS. Theirs is a thoroughly conservative and Reformed curriculum that is not compromised with progressive ideas of the day. It took me six years to finish the M.Div. as a part-time student, and I was thoroughly prepared for my ordination exams and have served as an OPC teaching elder/pastor now for four years.”
AFFORDABLE:
Our full-priced tuition & lecture costs:
- Are only $75/credit for college, and $95/credit for seminary. But we have several tuition discounts for both college and seminary!
- Lecture costs are affordable (some as little as $20 for the whole course, with college courses requiring no lecture costs).
- Most of the required readings/books are given to you as PDF’s at no additional cost.
Our tuition discount options include:
- A 1-year college/bachelor’s certificate program that can cost as little as $60.60 per credit/$2000 for the whole certificate.
- A seminary partnership program for men training for the ministry who are supported by their churches! You receive a $10 per credit tuition discount from us in addition to the support coming from your church.
- Combined with our “spotlight” courses that rotate every several months and are only $75/credit, you could complete one spotlight discounted course in a couple months, then enroll in the next “spotlight” course for $75/credit.
- With the additional $10/credit discount for men supported by their churches, you would only pay $65/credit for these seminary courses, and likely less than $50/credit depending on how much your church is supporting you.
The high costs of other Reformed seminaries:
- If you look around, you will find that we are more affordable than most if not all similar online/distance-based Reformed seminaries.
- With full tuition costs of many brick and mortar seminaries exceeding $500 or even in some cases $600/credit, you can avoid serious debt by studying from a distance/online with us!
- In fact, many of our recorded seminary lectures were recorded at some of these more expensive seminaries! So you are getting brick and mortar Reformed seminary lectures and studies at a tiny fraction of the cost, with the additional benefit of studying at your own pace, in your own home.
Our doctoral degrees are also affordable given our research-based setup:
- Costs range from $4500 for the M.Th. to $6900 for a Ph.D.
- Additional discounts for pre-payment.Hear from some of our doctoral graduates below:
“I am pastor of Stornoway Free Church of Scotland (continuing) in the Outer Hebrides. It is a busy pastorate with about 250 souls to care for as well as preaching three times a week. I am also the lecturer in Biblical Hebrew and Old Testament at the Free Church Seminary in Inverness. The lecturers and students gather once a month in Inverness for seminars and tutorials. However, most of the teaching is done via “distance-learning”.
With this workload it was seemingly impossible for me to even contemplate doctoral studies, as most Colleges and Seminaries require their doctoral students to be in residence at least for part of the course. Having four young children and a wife to support meant that finding spare cash to pay the fees and fund the study was also a major obstacle.
When I came across RITS the impossible suddenly became possible, and the financial obstacle was greatly diminished. RITS was able to offer me the opportunity to commence and complete a Doctor of Ministry degree from home at a fraction of the cost of other institutions. RITS’ flexible approach produced a course of studies tailored and adapted to my own particular interest in the Old Testament. An excellent UK-based mentor was always only a phone call or an email away. The writing of my thesis, “Old Testament Introduction and the Ministry”, helped me both to improve the academic standard of my own Old Testament Introduction Course, and to make it more relevant and useful to ministers and students for the ministry. The Doctoral Committee’s comments on my submissions were constructive and further helped to deepen and refine my thinking in a number of important areas.
In summary, the “RITS” experience was enjoyable and edifying. I hope it has made me a better preacher, pastor, and lecturer.”
“As a recipient of a PhD. degree from Reformed International Theological Seminary, I would like to make the following comments on this institution’s program and its quality.
First, the PhD. program I followed at RITS was sensible and thorough. It was designed to fulfill requirements for advanced academic skills and knowledge without engaging the student in extraneous busywork.
Second, the examination of the student’s defense of his thesis was conducted in a unique and efficient manner by requiring him to audiotape his answers to a carefully-designed and lengthy set of questions which probed not only his knowledge but the depth of his thinking on the issues involved. This tape was made in a timed session with no breaks and no reference materials allowed, thus enabling the examination committee to truly judge the candidate’s preparation without involving him or the Committee in time-consuming and expensive travel. This examination was very well done, so that my knowledge of a subject very familiar to me, Creeds and Creedalism, was deepened by the exam.**
Third, I am honored to have the signatures of well-known and respected Reformed and Presbyterian scholars on my PhD. They took their time to examine my work, and I much appreciate their approving of the degree, a degree I am proud to own as a part of my academic credentials.”
“RITS provided me with the only option I had to continue my education. Moving to another community to work on my doctor’s degree was out of the question. I found that working under the close oversight of Dr. Westcott of RITS was both a needed option and a most pleasant experience.
One hears horror stories of men working for years on their doctor’s degree, only to be turned down at the last moment over difference of philosophy or even trivial difference between themselves and their academic advisors. But I in no way found the faculty or administration determined to conform me to their theological preferences. Instead, I found men willing to evaluate my work solely on its academic merit, respecting the difference that we shared.
I enjoyed the process and continue to enjoy the community of faith that I have become a part of through this very pleasant experience.”
TIME-TESTED QUALITY:
God’s Word is enduring, timeless truth that does not change. Therefore:
- Our college program offers a Bachelor’s degree in education with Bible, theology, and apologetics classes added to supply a Christian worldview, which also prepares students to take state teacher certification exams and also can be helpful in attaining jobs in Christian schools.
- Our college certificate program provides you with 33 credits containing just our Bible, theology, history, philosophy, and apologetics courses.
- Our seminary setup is such that we do not need to change our coursework often. Much of what you study, read, and listen to is what our early graduates studied, read, and listened to as well (so you know they are endorsing much of what you yourself will be studying).
- In fact, our M.Div. degree program has a unique feature that shows you how each course meets the requirements for the OPC’s recommended curriculum for candidates preparing for the ministry: https://opc.org/BCO/Curriculum.html
- This feature is shown in our seminary catalog on page 28 and here online: https://reformationseminary.org/master-of-divinity/
- Our seminary lectures were either recorded at other seminaries and used with permission (and given to you at a fraction of the cost of those seminaries today), recorded by pastors and professors delivering church lectures, or recorded specifically for our seminary program.
- Our seminary lectures are high quality and have stood the test of time, delivered by well-respected seminary professors and pastors, and have been used for years, both with our seminary program and at the seminaries where they were first delivered and recorded.
STREAMLINED STUDY:
Our college and seminary courses cut out the busy work so that:
- There is no need to take excessive notes and engage in guesswork as to what your professor wants you to know and study for on exams.
- In our college and seminary programs, every chapter you read and every lecture you listen to will have a document called a “study guide” that will ask you questions based on your reading and listening.
- You will answer and submit these by email to be graded by our Dean of Studies, Rev. Rudy Poettcker, who will give you personal feedback and will answer any additional questions you have via email.
- This allows for personal interaction and feedback, which you do not always get with other online/distance based institutions.
- These graded study guides are then used by you to, you guessed it, study for quizzes, and the quizzes are graded and then used to study and prepare for exams.
- Additionally, all of our lectures have been transcribed for you, and will be given to you in a PDF document.
- So as you listen to the lectures, you can also read along with them, or just read them if you prefer.
- If you are looking for a particular answer to a question or need to review a certain part of the lecture, the transcript and outlines of the lectures are a tremendous asset.
Flexibility, affordability, and time-tested quality are what make our college and seminary programs stand out from the rest. This is demonstrated with our college graduates who have used their degrees to be teachers and/or to take more advanced degrees, and with our seminary graduates using their degree to prepare for ordination and the ministry in Reformed denominations such as the Orthodox Presbyterian Church (OPC), or to use their doctoral thesis to write books, lecture for courses, and contribute to Reformed academic studies.
“I wanted a deep, bible-based, well-rounded, Reformation-rooted seminary that would keep me near my family and coordinate with my church. Reformation International Theological Seminary fit the bill. Coordinating systematic theology with the lectures of the Westminster Confession of Faith by Dr. Bogue was especially helpful. The Pastoral Practicum and large number of courses required put it beyond the average seminary. After 12 years of pastoring, I still benefit from their training. I am glad that God is still using them for His Kingdom.”