Accreditation

The College of Biblical Studies is a Private Not-for-Profit, 501(c)(3) institution that is recognized by a number of quality assurance agencies for granting degrees. The Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board (THECB), through a Texas Supreme Court ruling regarding a special provision under sections 61.304 and 61.313(a) of the Texas Education Code, has granted CBS the authority to grant degrees under religious exemption because the institution’s degrees are entirely religious in nature.

CBS is nationally accredited with institutional membership status with Association of Biblical Higher Education Commission on Accreditation (ABHE) and Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC). Accredited status is the membership status granted to those colleges that meet their accreditor’s conditions for eligibility and that substantially achieve their respective missions and the criteria for accreditation. It further indicates a demonstrated commitment to ongoing institutional development. CBS believes firmly in the accreditation process to demonstrate excellence (Phil. 4:8-9) in everything it does to prepare students for their God-given calling in life and ministry.

The Indiana Code defines “postsecondary credit bearing proprietary educational institution” to mean a degree granting and credit bearing institution that provides instructional or educational services or training, whether onsite and/or online, and is accredited by an accrediting agency recognized by the United State Department of Education. The definition does not include “a religious institution that offers educational instruction or an educational program of a clearly religious nature.” In the context of the Indiana Code 21-18.5-2-12, “clearly religious nature” means an educational instruction or an educational program that is undoubtedly related to the faithful devotion of an acknowledged deity or ultimate reality. In order to be exempt from the definition of a “postsecondary credit bearing proprietary educational institution”, an institution could meet two prongs. The institution must be a “religious institution” that offers educational instruction or an educational program of a “clearly religious nature.”