A baccalaureate degree from a recognized college is required before a student may be considered for admission to any seminary or graduate program. The course of study supporting the applicant’s baccalaureate degree should be substantially similar to that required of Pensacola Christian College undergraduates. Individuals not holding a standard degree should contact the Seminary-Graduate Studies Office regarding bachelor equivalency requirements for seminary programs.

PTS and PCC reserve the right to withhold recognition of credits received at any seminary, university, or college that does not, in the opinion of the administration, meet reasonable academic standards.

Academic Admission Requirements

• Master’s degree requires a bachelor’s degree with a minimum 2.50 cumulative GPA. (2.00 for M.Div. and M.Min. degrees).
• Specialist degree requires a master’s degree with a minimum 3.00 cumulative GPA.
• Doctoral degree requires a master’s degree (M.Div. or equivalent for D.Min.) with a minimum 3.00 cumulative GPA.

Specific degree programs may include additional admission requirements. Applicants who do not meet minimum academic admission requirements may be considered for provisional acceptance by the Admissions Committee. Students accepted on a provisional basis must earn at least a 3.00 GPA (2.00 for Master of Divinity and Master of Ministry) upon completing 9 credits of graduate courses to continue in the program.

First-Time Students

If you are attending for the first time, use the following checklist to apply:

1. Completely fill out the Application for Admission.
2. Enclose the Application Fee. Payment may be made by personal check, money order, Visa, MasterCard, Discover or American Express.
3. Request the institution of higher education that granted your bachelor’s degree to send a complete transcript to the Director of Admissions. We must also have transcripts of all graduate-level and undergraduate-level work.

New International Students

Complete the above requirements under First-Time Students.

Students with degrees from non-English-speaking institutions are responsible to provide a certified translation of transcripts and course descriptions. This certification may be made by (1) a commercial certifying organization or (2) an individual with appropriate credentials in the country where the student attended college. A copy of the transcript in the native language must accompany the certified translation.

Transcripts from non-U.S. institutions must also be evaluated by Educational Credential Evaluators (ECE). Start your evaluation at ece.org. Choose the Course by Course evaluation and follow the steps required. PTS/PCC must receive the evaluation report before your file will be reviewed for final acceptance.

International students should allow a minimum of six months to complete application procedures. PCC is authorized under federal law to enroll nonimmigrant alien students. The regular application form should be completed and returned with the Application Fee to the Director of Admissions. The application cannot be processed until this fee is received; all payments must be in U.S. currency. International students’ accounts will be charged any handling fees assessed by a foreign bank (e.g., transfer funds, etc.). It is required by United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement regulations that international students submit to the Seminary/College all application forms, academic records, and proof of financial responsibility before the Form I-20 can be sent. In addition, the College requires international students attending the fall or spring semester to submit one semester’s tuition, room and board, fees, and one-way transportation charges from the College to the student’s home before final acceptance can be granted and the Form I-20 will be sent. Each semester must be paid in advance.

Non-English-speaking students are required to take the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL). Have your TOEFL scores sent directly from the Educational Testing Service to the Director of Admissions as soon as possible. This is done automatically if you specify our college TOEFL number 5970 when you register for this test.

A minimum score of 80 on the Internet-based TOEFL (20 per section) is required for entrance into the graduate programs. Applicants whose TOEFL composite score is below the standard may be considered for provisional acceptance by the Admissions Committee. Students accepted on a provisional basis must earn at least a 3.00 GPA (2.00 for Master of Divinity and Master of Ministry) upon completing 9 credits of graduate courses to continue in the program.

Continuing Students

If you have previously attended PTS or PCC graduate studies and the next course you are applying to take is within 12 months of the last course you took, you are a continuing student. Completely fill out an Application for Admission (indicate which sessions, terms, or modules you plan to attend). No application fee is required.

Reenrolling Students

If you have previously attended PTS or PCC graduate studies and the next course you are applying to take is more than 12 months from the last course you took, you are a reenrolling student. Completely fill out an Application for Admission (indicate which sessions, terms, or modules you plan to attend) and enclose the Application Fee.

Bible College Graduates

Bible school, Bible institute, or Bible college graduates must have earned a baccalaureate degree of a quality and type commonly recognized as representing the culmination of a liberal arts education. Under certain conditions, a student with a Bible diploma may attend the undergraduate program of Pensacola Christian College and transfer his Bible school education into a baccalaureate degree before going on to do seminary or graduate work.

Changing Program of Study

Acceptance under one seminary or graduate program of study does not guarantee acceptance under another program of study. Students who want to change their program may need to complete a new application for that major (and include the Application Fee). Contact the Seminary-Graduate Studies Office for details.

Student Standing

A regular student is one who is currently enrolled and maintaining satisfactory academic progress toward completion of a degree.

A provisional student is one who is admitted with less than the minimum academic entrance requirements or who is presently under Academic Probation status.

A non-degree student is one who meets the qualifications to take graduate courses and is merely enrolling in courses for teacher certification, transfer, continuing education, or personal benefit.

A full-time student is one who is enrolled for 9 credit hours or more per semester.

A part-time student is one who is enrolled for fewer than 9 credit hours per semester.

All courses except Continuing Dissertation/Major Project Services, approved PTS/PCC Online Learning, and Independent Study courses must be taken on campus. Specific residence requirements are given under each program of study.

The student must take required courses in the sequence predetermined by the Seminary or College. A student taking courses out of sequence may require more time to complete a degree than the standard residence options require.

A student who wants to take less than the normal load may do so and thereby extend the period of time required to complete his program of study. Students who extend their program of study may be subject to any changes in the degree requirements if they do not attend consecutive semesters full-time within their particular program of study.

A normal full-time seminary or graduate load is 9 to 15 credits, depending on the program in which a student is enrolled. A maximum load is 16 credit hours during a semester or summer term, including online courses and one-week modules.

Residence hall students must be classified as full-time or be taking a minimum of 6 credits when fewer than 9 credits are offered for their program of study.

Time Limits

Credit earned more than seven years (six years for the D.Min. and five years for the Ed.S.) prior to completion of degree requirements may not be counted toward graduation.

Extensions beyond the time limit for a particular degree (no more than two years) may be granted at the discretion of the Dean of Pensacola Theological Seminary or Academic Vice President. Students must make their request in writing and submit it to the Seminary-Graduate Studies Office stating the reasons for the extension and the expected date of degree completion.

Credit Hour

One semester credit hour represents the equivalent of one hour of lecture or two hours of laboratory work each week. Class lecture or laboratory time combined with outside classwork or studying is expected to equal approximately three hours per credit each week. An equivalent amount of work is required for studio work, practicums, internships, and classes that do not meet on the semester schedule.

Transfer of Credit

It is the practice of PTS and PCC and other colleges and universities to accept or reject credits based on their own institutional criteria, regardless of whether or not that particular school transferring credit is accredited. PCC reserves the right to withhold recognition of credits received at any college or university that does not, in the opinion of the administration, meet reasonable academic standards. It is the policy of the College to consider for transfer, credits earned in an approved or accredited college or university. Courses that are acceptable for transfer must be similar in content to those replaced in the chosen major at PCC.

Up to 3 hours of graduate credit may be accepted in transfer for a master’s or D.Min. degree (additional hours may be accepted for M.Div.). Up to 9 hours of doctoral credit in research, statistics, writing, or technology may be transferred for the Ed.S. or Ed.D. degree. Only courses with a grade of “A” or “B” are considered for transfer. Credit earned more than 10 years prior to completion of coursework may not be counted toward graduation requirements. Transfer credits are excluded from a student’s grade point average.

Students who transfer credits from non-English-speaking countries are responsible to provide a certified translation of transcript and course descriptions. This certification may be made by (1) a commercial certifying organization or (2) an individual with appropriate credentials in the country where the student attended college. A copy of the transcript in the native language must accompany the certified translation.

Transcripts from non-U.S. institutions must also be evaluated by Educational Credential Evaluators (ECE). Start your evaluation at ece.org. Choose the Course by Course evaluation and follow the steps required. PTS/PCC must receive the evaluation report before your file will be reviewed for final acceptance.

Experience Credit

PCC does not grant graduate credit for work or life experience.

Many PTS and PCC Graduate Studies courses have been video recorded to allow students to learn from home while still receiving the same quality instruction as on-campus students. You must have final acceptance into the Seminary or PCC Graduate Studies prior to your first time registering for a course.

Online-learning courses are offered during the fall, spring, and summer terms (see term dates), and up to three courses may be taken in one term. Register online.

All 30 credit hours for the Bible Exposition, Master of Ministry, Master of Business Administration, M.S. in Educational Leadership, and M.S. in Curriculum and Instruction—English degrees may be earned through online learning. Other seminary and graduate degrees may allow you to earn one third or more of your degree through online learning.

Registration

To receive course credit, a student must meet all prerequisites and be registered for the course in the Records Office. Registration dates are listed on the Calendar of Events.

Students registering late must pay a Late Registration Fee.

Plan for Learning

Pensacola Christian College offers a yearly program of instruction in which two semesters are divided by a five-week Interterm, a summer term, and one-week modules.

Course Changes

Additions: During the drop/add period each semester, a student may, upon obtaining approval from the Registrar, add a course to his schedule and register the change with the Records Office. A change of course fee will be charged.

On-Campus Drops: To drop an on-campus course, a student must get approval from the Registrar. A drop fee will be charged. The course grade is recorded as follows:

Week 1	No record on transcript
Weeks 2–9	W—Withdrawn
Weeks 10–15	WP—Withdrawn Passing or WF—Withdrawn Failing

Online-Learning Drops: A student may drop an online-learning course by submitting a written request to the Online-Learning Office. A drop fee will be charged. Tuition, fees, and costs of textbooks are nonrefundable and nontransferable. The course grade is recorded as follows:

Week 1	No record on transcript
Week 2—week before term ends	W—Withdrawn
Last week of term	WP—Withdrawn Passing or WF—Withdrawn Failing

Audits

Students wanting to take a class for personal benefit may audit a course with approval from the Registrar. Audited courses may not be changed to a credit basis after the course has started.

Withdrawals

Anyone whose circumstances force him to withdraw from the Seminary or College must have a withdrawal form properly executed. Contact the Seminary-Graduate Studies Office to initiate this process. Course grades for withdrawals, whether honorable (voluntary) or dishonorable, will follow the same policy as dropping a course.

Irregular Scheduling

The Seminary and College cannot schedule courses for the convenience of individual students who cannot or who do not take courses in their regular sequence.

Course Cancellation

Any course with insufficient enrollment may be canceled.

All students taking a course, regardless of classification, are expected to attend all scheduled classes.

During the fall or spring semesters, students missing more than a week of scheduled classes automatically lose one full letter grade; students missing more than two weeks receive an “F” for the course unless otherwise exempted by the administration.

Students are expected to take all examinations on their assigned dates. If final examinations are missed, as a rule, they may not be taken later. However, if the student gains the instructor’s approval and pays the Late Exam Fee, he may make up an examination.

Final grades are issued at the end of each term. For summer sessions, grades are issued at the end of each course. For one-week modules, grades are issued after post-coursework is completed. The following 4.00 grading system is for all students:

Grade		Grade Points Per Hour
A	Excellent	4
B	Good	3
C	Passing	2
D	Unsatisfactory	1
F	Failing	0

For example, a student receives four grade points per credit hour for each “A.” Students may determine their grade point average by dividing the total number of grade points earned by the total number of credit hours attempted. (Students who have taken a course more than once should see Repeating a Course.)

Other codes that may appear on the grade report and/or transcript are:

I	Incomplete
W	Withdrawn
WF	Withdrawn failing
WP	Withdrawn passing
WU	Withdrawn auditing
P	Passed
AU	Audit
NG	No grade
CR	Credit

All “Incompletes” must be made up by midterm of the following semester.

Repeating a Course

A student may repeat courses in which he did not earn a passing grade. All grades earned by a student become a part of his permanent record and will show on any transcript issued by the Seminary or College; however, when a course is repeated, the highest earned grade is used in computing the grade point average, and the credit hours are only counted once. A student’s grade point average will improve providing the repeated grade is higher than the previous grade.

A student may repeat up to two courses with a grade of “C-” or above to improve his grade point average. With approval of the Seminary or Graduate Committee, a student lacking grade points may take additional courses to make up the grade-point deficiency.

No student may repeat a course more than twice. A student must secure the permission of the Registrar any time he repeats a course. Audited courses may not be taken a second time for credit toward a degree.

To remain in good academic standing, students are expected to maintain a 3.00 cumulative GPA in graduate studies (2.00 for M.Div. and M.Min.).

A student who falls below a 3.00 cumulative GPA (2.00 for M.Div. and M.Min.) after completing 9 credit hours may be placed on Academic Probation, which will be noted on the student’s permanent record.

A student on Academic Probation must return to a 3.00 cumulative GPA after completing the next 9 credit hours in the program.

A student who is unable to return to good academic standing after the next 9 credit hours may be subject to Academic Dismissal, which will be noted on the student’s permanent record.

Appeal for an extension of Academic Probation or Dismissal status must be made in writing to the Academic Vice President.

Students who submit a signed request will receive a copy of their permanent record at no charge. Additional copies sent to someone other than the student are also free of charge. The Records Office will not issue any transcripts of a student’s record for any student whose account is not paid in full.

Although Pensacola Christian College does not accept state or federal financial aid, the institution voluntarily abides by the general guidelines of the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974 (FERPA) (20 U.S.C. § 1232g; 34 CFR Part 99) as they apply to the release of educational records. This privacy policy is extended to all enrolled students, whether taking courses onsite or through online learning.

All major projects and papers prepared as part of the requirements for seminary and graduate degrees automatically become the property of Pensacola Theological Seminary or Pensacola Christian College and may not be published or reproduced without the written consent of the Seminary or College.