Our Accreditation
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Brookes Bible College is accredited by the Association of Biblical Higher Education (ABHE) which is recognized by the U.S. Department of Education and the Council for Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA).
ABHE is a national accreditation organization with over 200 member schools in both the United States and Canada. The mission of ABHE is to enhance the quality and credibility of postsecondary educational institutions that distinctively engage students in biblical, transformational, experiential, and missional higher education.
Other institutions accredited by ABHE include schools such as Bethlehem College and Seminary, Calvary University, Emmaus Bible College, Lancaster Bible College, Montana Bible College, Appalachian Bible College, Clarks Summit University, Cairn University, Kuyper College, etc.
Other institutions accredited by ABHE include schools such as Bethlehem College and Seminary, Calvary University, Emmaus Bible College, Lancaster Bible College, Montana Bible College, Appalachian Bible College, Clarks Summit University, Cairn University, Kuyper College, etc.
Furthermore, Brookes Bible College is an approved institution with the National Council for State Authorization Reciprocity Agreements (NC-SARA) which authorizes institutions to offer distance learning to students who live in locations outside the state of our campus.
About Accreditation
Learning about accreditation and a school's accreditation status is an important step in choosing a college education. Asking good questions is the first place to start. The following information is intended to help you understand accreditation, our current accreditation status, and to make an informed decision that aids your college choice. There are four positions an institution of learning may take with respect to accreditation:
Position 1: An institution may choose to pursue the hard work and invite the close scrutiny over many years of an official agency (or agencies), granted authority by its nation’s government to recognize an institution as “accredited.” In the United States, only institutions who are recognized by the U.S. Department of Education are accredited institutions—meaning that they have undergone significant investigation and been evaluated with respect to rigorous standards and found to have met those expectations. A student who attends an accredited school may have confidence that he/she is making a long-term investment into his/her future, with respect to future educational and employment opportunities, and that the degree achieved has value.
Position 2: An institution may desire to be a reputable and a faithful institution of learning and actually works hard at it but chooses not to place itself under the close scrutiny of an overseeing official agency and thus remains “unaccredited / non-accredited” and also accurately and honestly represents itself as such. A student may or may not receive an excellent education from one of these types of unaccredited institutions. Close scrutiny from an overseeing agency ensures the quality of education by an external source which helps students feel confident that they are working with a school that is trustworthy. Still, working under this close scrutiny demands extensive human and financial resources which a faithful institution may simply not possess—choosing rather to devote the resources they do have to providing as quality of an education, internally scrutinized, as possible. The prospective student should be aware of the risks and do sufficient research into this type of school, as well as recognizing that an unaccredited degree may be met with obstacles for future opportunities.
Position 3. An institution may attempt to deceive prospective students by claiming to be “accredited” but without actually being recognized as such by an official agency with the authority to do so. These institutions recognize that being accredited is valuable to prospective students and so are willing to misrepresent their status and manipulate prospective students to achieve student enrollment. Some of these institutions take the tactic of being “accredited” by an agency purporting to be an accrediting agency operating outside authorized capacity—similar to the way a person might mail-order a degree or obtain falsified documents. A prospective student, seeking to establish an institution’s accreditation status, should not only ask if the institution is accredited but by whom it is accredited. Ensure that the accrediting agency is one that is recognized by the U.S. Department of Education. Sadly, many students at these institutions graduate and meet countless obstacles because their degree is not recognized by graduate programs or by employers. Even more tragic, many of these dishonest institutions fail to provide a reputable education to their students who come to learn that they are not sufficiently prepared for the types of opportunities usually available to graduates and are embarrassed when graduate schools or employment personnel inform them that their degree cannot be recognized.
Position 4. Finally, an institution may choose not to pursue accreditation and to operate without internal scrutiny but also honestly represent itself as “unaccredited / non-accredited.” There are many good programs of learning in this category but they are not higher education programs (e.g., college or university programs).
For more than a century our college existed as “Brookes Bible Institute”—an institution of higher education, led by sincere administrators and biblical scholars desiring to provide a quality biblical education to Bible students and ministers in the St. Louis region. We existed as unaccredited during that whole time and clearly communicated our status as such with tremendous fruitfulness in our region. Yet, we desired that our students’ opportunities would not be hindered by holding non-accredited degrees, and thus in 2009, the leadership of the school began to turn our trajectory toward becoming “Brookes Bible College,” an accredited institution, recognized as such by an official accrediting agency of the U.S. Department of Education. Although we had a strong seasoned foundation, Brookes was incredibly strengthened and refined by the process of scrutiny, mentorship, and effective oversight. In the spring of 2018, Brookes Bible College was officially recognized as an accredited institution of higher education.
Position 1: An institution may choose to pursue the hard work and invite the close scrutiny over many years of an official agency (or agencies), granted authority by its nation’s government to recognize an institution as “accredited.” In the United States, only institutions who are recognized by the U.S. Department of Education are accredited institutions—meaning that they have undergone significant investigation and been evaluated with respect to rigorous standards and found to have met those expectations. A student who attends an accredited school may have confidence that he/she is making a long-term investment into his/her future, with respect to future educational and employment opportunities, and that the degree achieved has value.
Position 2: An institution may desire to be a reputable and a faithful institution of learning and actually works hard at it but chooses not to place itself under the close scrutiny of an overseeing official agency and thus remains “unaccredited / non-accredited” and also accurately and honestly represents itself as such. A student may or may not receive an excellent education from one of these types of unaccredited institutions. Close scrutiny from an overseeing agency ensures the quality of education by an external source which helps students feel confident that they are working with a school that is trustworthy. Still, working under this close scrutiny demands extensive human and financial resources which a faithful institution may simply not possess—choosing rather to devote the resources they do have to providing as quality of an education, internally scrutinized, as possible. The prospective student should be aware of the risks and do sufficient research into this type of school, as well as recognizing that an unaccredited degree may be met with obstacles for future opportunities.
Position 3. An institution may attempt to deceive prospective students by claiming to be “accredited” but without actually being recognized as such by an official agency with the authority to do so. These institutions recognize that being accredited is valuable to prospective students and so are willing to misrepresent their status and manipulate prospective students to achieve student enrollment. Some of these institutions take the tactic of being “accredited” by an agency purporting to be an accrediting agency operating outside authorized capacity—similar to the way a person might mail-order a degree or obtain falsified documents. A prospective student, seeking to establish an institution’s accreditation status, should not only ask if the institution is accredited but by whom it is accredited. Ensure that the accrediting agency is one that is recognized by the U.S. Department of Education. Sadly, many students at these institutions graduate and meet countless obstacles because their degree is not recognized by graduate programs or by employers. Even more tragic, many of these dishonest institutions fail to provide a reputable education to their students who come to learn that they are not sufficiently prepared for the types of opportunities usually available to graduates and are embarrassed when graduate schools or employment personnel inform them that their degree cannot be recognized.
Position 4. Finally, an institution may choose not to pursue accreditation and to operate without internal scrutiny but also honestly represent itself as “unaccredited / non-accredited.” There are many good programs of learning in this category but they are not higher education programs (e.g., college or university programs).
For more than a century our college existed as “Brookes Bible Institute”—an institution of higher education, led by sincere administrators and biblical scholars desiring to provide a quality biblical education to Bible students and ministers in the St. Louis region. We existed as unaccredited during that whole time and clearly communicated our status as such with tremendous fruitfulness in our region. Yet, we desired that our students’ opportunities would not be hindered by holding non-accredited degrees, and thus in 2009, the leadership of the school began to turn our trajectory toward becoming “Brookes Bible College,” an accredited institution, recognized as such by an official accrediting agency of the U.S. Department of Education. Although we had a strong seasoned foundation, Brookes was incredibly strengthened and refined by the process of scrutiny, mentorship, and effective oversight. In the spring of 2018, Brookes Bible College was officially recognized as an accredited institution of higher education.
Our Accreditation Journey
Brookes Bible College was granted accreditation by the Association of Biblical Higher Education (ABHE) in February 2018. ABHE is an example of a Recognized association, discussed above, and the process of pursuing accreditation with them has made us a better institution. The education that we offer, as demonstrated by the pastoral and academic experience of our faculty, equips students to thoroughly understand, study, apply, and minister the Word of God.
2009
After offering Bible training at the lay-level for a century the board of Brookes Bible Institute made the bold decision to become Brookes Bible College and gained Applicant status with ABHE.
2013
In 2013, the College's status was upgraded from Applicant to Candidate status with ABHE.
July 13, 2017
The ABHE Commission on Accreditation completed their review of Brookes Bible College at its June 28, 2017 meeting and approved the progress reported by BCC's 2015 Annual Report Indicators, 2016 Annual Report Indicators, and Self-Study and granted an evaluation team visit during the Fall 2017 semester.
September 7, 2017
Brookes Bible College (MO) will be hosting a comprehensive accreditation visit by a team of evaluators from the Association of Biblical Higher Education (ABHE) (November 1-3, 2017) to determine its compliance with the standards for accreditation. During the visit, representatives of the ABHE team will entertain comments from the public. Any members of the public interested in making a presentation regarding the College to the team should contact the College at the following telephone number (314-773-0083) or email address (office@brookesbible.org) to determine a meeting time. Persons wishing to submit third party comments related to the institution may send them to Director, Commission on Accreditation, 5850 T. G. Lee Blvd., Suite 130, Orlando, FL, 32822. Persons interested in reviewing the standards for accreditation will find them on the ABHE website www.abhe.org. They appear under "about accreditation." The institution is subject to the Institutional Accreditation Standards.
November 4, 2017
After a positive visit from the team of evaluators from the Association of Biblical Higher Education (ABHE) to determine compliance with the standards of accreditation, the faculty and staff of Brookes Bible College is focusing on progress in areas of suggestions and recommendations for improvement given by the team. The school will next appear before the commission on accreditation at the ABHE annual meeting on February 20, 2018. Thank you for your prayerful support as BBC pursues this important step toward its future development.
February 20, 2018
President Robert Thurman, Academic Dean Dr. Allan Henderson, and Board Chair Dr. James Clark traveled to ABHE headquarters in Orlando, Florida, to appear before the commission. Following the hearing, the commission announced the decision to grant Brookes Bible College initial accreditation (5 years). Brookes Bible College was officially recognized publicly at the annual meeting of ABHE the following day--February 21, 2018. This milestone is the conclusion of over five years of tireless work by the faculty and administration, and the prayer and support of countless pastors, students, alumni, donors, and friends. All glory be to God for this achievement!
November 2019
Brookes Bible College was approved to offer its first bachelor-level degree program. Upon this approval, the College launched the Bachelor of Theology program, a program specifically designed to give serious seminary-style training at the undergraduate level.
November 19, 2020
Brookes Bible College was approved to offer its first degree program conducted in a more than 50% distance modality. Upon this approval, the College will launched the Bachelor of Biblical Studies beginning with the Fall 2021 semester in which students can complete the entire degree via an online learning approach.
2009
After offering Bible training at the lay-level for a century the board of Brookes Bible Institute made the bold decision to become Brookes Bible College and gained Applicant status with ABHE.
2013
In 2013, the College's status was upgraded from Applicant to Candidate status with ABHE.
July 13, 2017
The ABHE Commission on Accreditation completed their review of Brookes Bible College at its June 28, 2017 meeting and approved the progress reported by BCC's 2015 Annual Report Indicators, 2016 Annual Report Indicators, and Self-Study and granted an evaluation team visit during the Fall 2017 semester.
September 7, 2017
Brookes Bible College (MO) will be hosting a comprehensive accreditation visit by a team of evaluators from the Association of Biblical Higher Education (ABHE) (November 1-3, 2017) to determine its compliance with the standards for accreditation. During the visit, representatives of the ABHE team will entertain comments from the public. Any members of the public interested in making a presentation regarding the College to the team should contact the College at the following telephone number (314-773-0083) or email address (office@brookesbible.org) to determine a meeting time. Persons wishing to submit third party comments related to the institution may send them to Director, Commission on Accreditation, 5850 T. G. Lee Blvd., Suite 130, Orlando, FL, 32822. Persons interested in reviewing the standards for accreditation will find them on the ABHE website www.abhe.org. They appear under "about accreditation." The institution is subject to the Institutional Accreditation Standards.
November 4, 2017
After a positive visit from the team of evaluators from the Association of Biblical Higher Education (ABHE) to determine compliance with the standards of accreditation, the faculty and staff of Brookes Bible College is focusing on progress in areas of suggestions and recommendations for improvement given by the team. The school will next appear before the commission on accreditation at the ABHE annual meeting on February 20, 2018. Thank you for your prayerful support as BBC pursues this important step toward its future development.
February 20, 2018
President Robert Thurman, Academic Dean Dr. Allan Henderson, and Board Chair Dr. James Clark traveled to ABHE headquarters in Orlando, Florida, to appear before the commission. Following the hearing, the commission announced the decision to grant Brookes Bible College initial accreditation (5 years). Brookes Bible College was officially recognized publicly at the annual meeting of ABHE the following day--February 21, 2018. This milestone is the conclusion of over five years of tireless work by the faculty and administration, and the prayer and support of countless pastors, students, alumni, donors, and friends. All glory be to God for this achievement!
November 2019
Brookes Bible College was approved to offer its first bachelor-level degree program. Upon this approval, the College launched the Bachelor of Theology program, a program specifically designed to give serious seminary-style training at the undergraduate level.
November 19, 2020
Brookes Bible College was approved to offer its first degree program conducted in a more than 50% distance modality. Upon this approval, the College will launched the Bachelor of Biblical Studies beginning with the Fall 2021 semester in which students can complete the entire degree via an online learning approach.
