COMMONLY ASKED QUESTIONS
Questions? We have answers
Choosing a college is a big decision, and we know that you must have questions. We’ve done our best to address the more common questions below, but we’re just a phone call or email away if you have more. Call us at (805) 581-1233 or send an email by clicking here.
The cost per credit hour for Eternity courses is $250. The cost per credit hour for your IWU courses is $300. You will make all your payments / transactions through Eternity Bible College and as always, you can be on one of our flexible payment plans if you need to do so!
If you are a full time student, this will take exactly four years to complete. However, you do not have to complete this in four years. You’re more than welcome to work through the program as quickly or slowly as you need.
If you have received a certificate, associate’s or bachelor’s degree from Eternity, then you are more than welcome to participate in this new partnership program! Bachelor’s students will only have their IWU courses left to finish and associate/certificate students may still have a handful of Eternity courses to finish alongside their IWU degree programs.
All classes in the Dual-Degree program are online.
Yes, both Eternity Bible College and IWU are fully accredited colleges. This means you will receive two degrees from two different accredited colleges.
Yes! This is different and better than a “double major.” It’s a dual degree partnership program where you will receive one bachelor’s degree from Eternity, a Bachelor of Biblical Studies AND a second bachelor’s degree from Indiana Wesleyan University in one of 18 degree options in the partnership program. The best part is that you get both in the time it normally takes to earn one degree and at only a minimal additional cost.
For now, self-paced options are only being offered for select first year courses.
Just like in your regular DE courses through Eternity, when you complete the coursework your professor will assign you a grade and it will appear in Populi.
Our self-paced courses are offered for the same low price as our traditional courses! There’s no mark up or convenience fees.
Each course is overseen by a certified, Eternity Instructor. They are available for you to ask questions, schedule calls, and will grade assignments as they’re submitted.
There are 2 ways that self-paced courses are different: 1) There are no due dates for lessons / assignments. You will work through each lesson as quickly or as slowly as you choose. 2) You’ll be working independently with a professor and won’t be grouped together with other students for discussion posts or group assignments
A general rule of thumb is 2-3 hours of work, per credit hour, per lesson. So a 15-lesson, 3-unit course is going to take you about 7.5 hours per lesson or around 112 hours total. This can be done as quickly or as slowly as you’d like to complete it.
Your initial enrollment in the course is for 12-months from the enrollment date. After that, you will have to pay an additional $100 continuation fee.
In some cases, American citizens who live abroad might qualify for scaled tuition. If the majority of your income (50%+) comes from the economy of your country of residence, then yes! Your tuition will not be as discounted as someone whose sole income comes from that country but it will be scaled according to the source of your income.
If the majority of your income (50%+) still comes from the USA, then unfortunately this is not available to you. Many missionaries in the past have had success fundraising specifically for their continued education. Speak with your donors or sending agency about this.
Please note, you may be asked to provide proof of the source the source country of your income.
Unfortunately at this time all of our courses are only offered in English and students will need a very high level of English proficiency, specifically in written proficiency. Whereas some assignments could be done in your language of preference (e.g. Bible reading) the majority of assignments, reading and discussions will be conducted in English.
We have designated funds that we are able to use to scale your tuition to something that is accessible for the average worker within your country of residence. Meaning, we do not offer “free” scholarships to any Eternity student. Inquiries for “full scholarship” will be denied. However, we are able to discount your tuition based on the average income and cost of living in your country of residence. We only have limited amounts of funds to do this every year so if you are interested, please inquire below.
Unfortunately, Eternity is not able to issue student visas at this time. The good news is that 100% of our programs and courses can be taken 100% online, you never have to come to our campus in Southern California, USA.
Yes. For more details on auditing distance learning classes or to register for a class as an auditor, visit the auditors section of our website.
Yes, Eternity Bible College is accredited by the Association for Biblical Higher Education Commission on Accreditation (5850 T. G. Lee Blvd., Ste. 130, Orlando, FL 32822, 407.207.0808) to grant certificates and degrees at the Associate and Baccalaureate levels.
Our staff works hard to make sure that each student enters a discipleship relationship their first semester at Eternity. We realize that the transition is a hard one for many students and we know the importance of having someone that they can talk to and who can point them to Scripture. All students, new and returning, have the opportunity to be in a Discipleship Lab with a member of the faculty or staff, but beyond that many of our students seek out individual discipleship relationships with leaders in different churches and faculty and staff at Eternity. We desire that each student does not just attain knowledge during their time here at Eternity, but applies it to every part of his or her life.
The format is very similar to our on site classes. Students are responsible for reading assignments and answering questions given by the professor each week. However, instead of coming to class to discuss the homework, students are responsible to participate in online discussions with their professor and fellow classmates via discussion threads. Some classes also include occasional videos posted by professors that students need to watch.
The concept of “grandfathering” a degree does not apply since accreditation applies to the school and not to a degree.
Eternity Bible College is not affiliated with any denomination. Our students are active participants in a wide variety of churches and denominational backgrounds before, during, and after their time at Eternity. We believe that this diversity of denominational perspective enhances our students’ education.
No, you can go online at any time to reply to the discussion threads, but you will need to spend the appropriate amount of hours online per class.
Yes! All of our degree programs can be completed through distance education—you won’t have to do any of your coursework at our Simi Valley campus.
It takes some time for the Department of Education and the Council on Higher Education (CHEA) to update their lists. In the meantime, you may verify our accreditation either through the ABHE website.
We are accredited through by the Association for Biblical Higher Education Commission on Accreditation (5850 T. G. Lee Blvd., Orlando, FL 32822; 407.207.0808). ABHE is a North American agency that is an officially recognized “national accrediting association” by the U.S. Department of Education and is an officially recognized “faith‐based” accrediting agency by the Council for Higher Education Accreditation.* For more information about ABHE visit their website at www.abhe.org. We chose ABHE because we believe they provide the best option for helping us to maintain high academic standards while also sharing our Christian faith.
All of our faculty are actively involved in local church ministries. They all have Master’s degrees or higher in different fields of theology, biblical studies, or biblical counseling. They are handpicked by the Academic Dean and President as people who are both knowledgeable about the Bible and pastoral in nature. Our faculty are available to students and are excited to see students grow and mature in their Christian walk. Click here for a brief description of each member of our faculty.
If a student is enrolled in a three unit class, they can expect six to nine hours of homework a week. For a two unit class the workload will be between four and six hours a week.
Even though people often use the phrase “fully” accredited, it actually is a misleading term. A school is either accredited or not. There is no partial accreditation. You may have heard that Eternity received “initial accreditation” – this means that it was the first time that Eternity has received accreditation. It is not partial.
Yes. For more information about accreditation, click here.
If your class is three units, you will be expected to spend three hours a week on the discussion threads for your class. If your class is two units, you will spend two hours a week on the discussion threads.
When it comes to decisions made by other schools (such as admission), it is important to recognize that these types of decisions are completely up to the staff of the other school, so no school can promise anything (including admission and transfer of units). To this point we have had graduates accepted to Liberty Baptist Theological Seminary, Talbot School of Theology, The Master’s Seminary, The Bethlehem Seminary, Azusa Pacific University, A.W. Tozer Seminary, Duke Divinity School, Fuller Seminary, and others. We also work to build relationships with any graduate school that a student is interested in, and provide any information that a Graduate School may need to be able to accurately assess a graduate of Eternity.
If a student is applying for another school, the registrar will ask or look to see if the school is accredited. If it is accredited at that time, then the conversation will usually end there. Sometimes they may look further to see the actual date of accreditation and compare that date to when the student was taking classes. However, since accreditation is a long process that requires continual improvement rather than just meeting a set of requirements, they should realize that the education offered in the years prior to receiving accredited status was comparable to that received after.
Currently we do not grant student visas to attend Eternity on‐site. International students have two options: they can either 1) get a visa / residence card for another reason to be here and study as part of that reason or 2) they can apply for our Distance Education program. The Distance Education program was designed in part to allow international students to stay in their home country and study through Eternity without having to relocate to California or Idaho. We believe this is often a better option because it keeps students in their own churches and own context.
Eternity is eligible to apply for Title IV funding (the Federal loan and grant program). However, at this point our board of trustees have decided not to participate in this program because it enables and often promotes student indebtedness.
VA funding (GI Bill) is separate from Title IV. Since we have reached initial accreditation, we are submitting the appropriate paperwork to become eligible to receive VA funding. We view this funding differently than Title IV because it is a benefit that was earned rather than a loan. In the meantime, our tuition is already very affordable without financial aid due to our many donors that subsidize it.
Yes. For more details on auditing distance learning classes or to register for a class as an auditor, visit the auditors section of our website.
An average online class consists of about 20 students.
Expect a challenge. You can expect your student to be learning things that will challenge their worldview and teach them to see the world with God at the center. Your student will grow both academically as well as personally. Your student will be challenged in his or her devotion to God and service of Him in the world. Our hope is that your student grows into a mature Christian who understands the big picture of who God is and what He is doing in the world.
Yes, please see our latest accreditation statement.
For the Bachelor of Biblical Studies program, students must attain 18 units of specific courses to finish their program. For the complete course list, select a degree program here.
No, we do not accept either CLEP tests or AP scores for college credit.
I’m learning to love people better, not only through the things I’m learning in my classes, but through the amazing community of students and teachers who model it for me.