HOW AND WHY WE DO IT
An Affordable Education Doesn’t Come Cheaply
Some people look at the price of our tuition and think it’s incredibly cheap. We beg to differ. It may be inexpensive to the student, but there are many other people who contribute financially and other ways and, for them, it is definitely not cheap.
There are two important inter-related principles that enable us to offer a quality Bible education at a very affordable price: simplicity and shared sacrifice.
Simplicity
We operate as efficiently and simply as we can. Anyone who visits our office sees very quickly that we are not about large, fancy buildings, athletic fields, fountains, etc., but instead our focus is on training students. Everything else is as simple and inexpensive as we can reasonably make it. If you’d like a comparison, Eternity’s expense per student is approximately $6,000, where the average ABHE school our size (less than 200 students) was $21,864. We think that is operating frugally, especially considering the higher costs of operating in Southern California.
Shared Sacrifice
Education requires sacrifice, and we believe that too many schools put the burden of this on the student, who is generally least able to bear that burden. This usually leads to student debt, which is deadly for future pastors and missionaries. At Eternity, we believe that the burden should be shared – the students, the staff and faculty, and donors (the church). The students still pay a reasonable tuition, which is an appropriate sacrifice. Our staff members fill multiple roles in order to cut down on staffing costs. Finally, there are donors who invest in the school as a means of advancing the kingdom. Together we are able to share the burden so students can graduate with a quality Bible education at an affordable cost.
We are encouraged to use the knowledge we gain to impact our communities. I also love that we’re pushed to serve the people around us through active involvement in our local churches.