Students with an unaccredited or incomplete Bachelor’s degree and over seven years of full-time ministry experience may be eligible for acceptance into a graduate program at SUM based on our Life Experience Policy.
Applicants to a master’s program who do not possess a B.A. or B.S. degree accredited through a CHEA (Council for Higher Education Accreditation) approved institution but who have at least seven years of substantial full-time ministry experience may apply for an evaluation of bachelor’s degree equivalency.
In addition to the regular application materials, applicants interested in this option must submit the following:
- documentation of all prior formal collegiate and ministerial training, including diplomas, certificates, evaluation documents and transcripts;
- written descriptions of past and present ministerial roles;
- an essay of 1,500-2,000 words describing how the applicant’s educational and ministerial journey has prepared him or her for graduate study at SUM;
- a letter of recommendation from an academic or professional training leader addressing the applicant’s preparedness for graduate study.
Each application will be evaluated by the graduate admissions committee. Those applicants deemed by the committee prepared for graduate-level study will be admitted to the master’s program.
SUM limits the number of active students enrolled in each graduate degree program under the Life Experience policy at one time to 15% of the total number of students in each program.
In some cases, where some uncertainty remains as to an applicant’s preparedness, the graduate admissions committee may opt to admit the applicant as a Special Student and limit the number of courses for which the applicant may register or prescribe remedial courses on the undergraduate level as prerequisites for admission into the graduate program.