Admission

In order to be considered for acceptance, a student applying for enrollment in the seminary must supply the following:

A. Completed application (Masters Application | Doctor of Ministry Application). Applications for admission must be in the seminary office one month prior to the start of a semester or the beginning of a directed study or distance learning course.
B. Official transcripts from previous undergraduate schools mailed to the BTS office directly from the school. The official transcript is due in the seminary office within 30 days of application for admission.
C. Receipt of$30.00 application fee (one-time, non-refundable fee). The application fee for doctoral students is $175.00. The application fee is required when application is submitted and is non-refundable. Payment of the application fee does not guarantee admission to the seminary. A letter of acceptance will be mailed upon the approval of the application for admission.
D. Birmingham Theological Seminary requires references from your (1) pastor; (2)an officer of your church; and (3) a business associate, friend, college professor or other individual. It would be helpful to your references if you would enclose an addressed, stamped envelope with your reference form to be returned by them to the Seminary Office. Reference Form

For those students registering as a degree candidate, an interview with the Seminary President or Vice President is expected prior to admission.

Degree Seeking Students Prerequisite requirements for degree seeing students vary according to degree level. Undergraduate applicants are required to have a high school diploma or have completed the General Educational Development (GED) test. Applicants for a Master’s Level program must have an earned bachelor’s degree from an approved school. However, certificates may be earned without an undergraduate degree. Applicants to the doctoral programs must have a master’s degree from an approved school. Additionally, more specific prerequisites may apply to individual programs. Applicants should refer to the degree listings in the catalog for further information. All applications are reviewed by the Vice President of Academic Affairs. The Academic Affairs VP evaluates schools to determine acceptability of prerequisite degrees and transfer credits.

A limited number of students may be admitted to courses as audit students.

Individuals who apply and are accepted to BTS, but who do not take any courses in a year, must re-apply to BTS. Applications will be kept on file for one year.

Students sometimes find the need to take a break in completing courses due to personal or professional maters. If a student returns to complete a degree with BTS, and has not taken classes in a two year period, the student may return to the seminary but must reapply with the exception of providing new references. In addition, the student must comply with the degree requirements under the current catalog at the time of returning to seminary and also, provide updated personal information.

Non-Degree Seeking Students An individual in the process of completing a degree at another approved institution may apply as a non-degree seeking student at BTS, pending completion of the degree from the other institution. Those not pursuing a degree at the time of enrollment are admitted as non-degree seeking students and must show the admissions committee that they have the background and course prerequisites necessary for the courses in which they are interested. This category of enrollment does not constitute admission to the school as a degree seeking student in any BTS program. Transfer Students Students who wish to transfer from other graduate institutions should apply for admission in the usual way, submitting with their application and required admission documents a completed transcript of their seminary work. A request for transfer credit should be accompanied by a catalog containing the course descriptions from the previous institution. The credits must be of a comparable graduate level and the courses must apply to the BTS curriculum.

Credit for work completed in other institutions may be granted after evaluation by BTS. No credit will be given for work receiving less than a “C” or its equivalent. Grade point averages will only be determined by work completed at Birmingham Theological Seminary.

Transfer credit may be given the grade of “T”. Students are required to pay a posting fee of $30 per transfer credit hour. Bachelor/undergraduate courses cannot be transferred as graduate courses. Course work completed to earn a bachelors or masters degree cannot be used toward earning another degree. Core courses in the various degree programs at BTS (equivalent courses at other institutions will be considered on a case by case basis) need not be repeated to pursue another degree. Only professional components of the additional degree must be completed. Some additional work may be required.

Transfer students must complete at least one-third of the hours required for any degree program at Birmingham Theological Seminary. Transfer students may be required to take more than the minimum requirements for graduation because courses taken elsewhere may not be equivalent to those in the BTS curriculum and all courses are transferred at the rate of two (2) credit hours per course.

Acceptance to Seminary
A student is considered fully accepted when all required documentation is received and approved. A student may be accepted to BTS provisionally when there is outstanding documentation such as an official transcript. Upon acceptance to the seminary, a letter of acceptance is issued to the student.

Official Transcripts In order to validate program prerequisites and transfer credits (if applicable), official transcripts are required within 30 days of application. Copies or student-issued transcripts may be used during the enrollment process for preliminary evaluation; however, they are not considered official. To be considered official, transcripts must be sent to BTS via one of the methods: The educational institution sends the official transcript directly to BTS via postal mail, or The educational institution sends the official transcript to the student in a sealed envelope, and the student sends the sealed envelope to BTS. (If the seal is broken before arriving at BTS, the transcript will not be considered official.

Students who fail to ensure that all official transcripts have been submitted to BTS: (1) may not be admitted to a particular BTS degree program or be allowed to continue in the program, (2) will not be permitted to graduate until they have ensured that BTS has received all of the required official transcripts.

International Transcripts
If international transcripts are not in English, an English translation is also required. Whenever possible, BTS will evaluate international credentials in-house. For any international credentials BTS determines must be evaluated by an approved outside evaluation agency, BTS will notify the applicant/student accordingly. The applicant/student will be responsible for contacting the outside evaluation agency, as well as any costs incurred.

For more information on admission, click here to read the catalog.

International Students: