ACCREDITATION & Affiliation

Forge Theological Seminary is not accredited by any accreditation agency recognized by the United States Department of Education or the Council for Higher Education Accreditation. As an institution whose sole purpose is religious and theological training, Forge Theological Seminary is exempt from state oversight as per the South Carolina Code of Laws, Nonpublic Postsecondary Institution License Act, § 59-58-30(4). Click here for more information on South Carolina's Religious Exemption policy.

​

FTS Statement on USDE Recognized Accreditation

Since its inception in 2015, FTS has intentionally rejected seeking accreditation with any accreditor recognized by either the federal government or the Council for Higher Education Accreditation. Our reasons are two-fold: First, theological education belongs to the church. Second, our mission is to provide robust theological education that is as affordable as possible. The system of US accreditation is a convoluted morass that typically provides little benefit to the students and taxpayers whose dollars pay for its existence. We believe that theological education should not involve students becoming indebted to the federal government or anyone else. Indeed, "the borrower is the slave of the lender" (Prov. 22:7). Institutions endure the expense and toil of achieving federally recognized accreditation primarily in order to gain access to federal money via student grants and loans. FTS has no interest in Title IV compliance or federal student loan dollars. Further, we do not equate recognized accreditation with either legitimacy or faithfulness to Christ. Ultimately, the validation of our degree programs lies in the ability of our graduates to serve the church with excellence. Our graduates are pastors, elders, deacons, counselors, missionaries, theologians, lay Bible teachers, and parachurch leaders. FTS is, however, committed to ensuring the quality of its courses and programs through critical third-party review and we will continue to pursue strategic partnerships that benefit our students and faculty through continuous improvement.