Offered On-Campus
Offered Online
We know that being in ministry often means you can’t leave everything and return to school, so we’ve given you some learning options.
Traditional, Residential Classes
The majority of the seminary classes are offered in the traditional, residential model. You will be in a classroom at a specific time on specific days, interacting with fellow students and with the professor. The traditional classes are sixteen weeks in length, and all course work is done by the end of the last week of class. Almost all of these traditional classes are live-streamed for our virtual students.
Campus Modules
Can’t be on campus for an entire semester, but still want to take a course on campus? Consider taking a course in module format. Our modules begin on Monday, usually in the afternoon, and conclude Friday afternoon. Module courses are only offered occasionally.
Virtual Modules or Classes
Join a module or semester-long residential course from home via the Internet in real-time. Since you are joining a live class, you will need to be logged in at specific times on specific days to complete these courses (some recording and playback options are available if you a miss an occasional class). Regular attendance in virtual classes is required.
Online Courses
Many of the courses required for the MA and MDiv programs may be taken online. You do not usually need to be online at a specific time of the day to complete online courses. There are frequently weekly course assignments with due dates, but there is no specific time of the day for you to be involved in the class. The online courses are usually eight weeks in length, but still provide a full semester’s worth of material, so they are intense. You also have an additional four weeks to finish up reading and writing assignments.
Programs
The master of Arts in Bible can be completed online. The Master of Arts in Biblical Studies, Biblical Counseling, and the Master of Divinity programs can be completed with a combination of online and virtual courses. Please contact us for details about the Masters of Intercultural Studies class format. The Doctor of Ministry is only done in a module format.
Advanced Placement
Advanced Placement refers to the acceptance of certain undergraduate courses to fulfill seminary course requirements. Undergraduate credits approved for Advanced Placement may be applied to MBS program requirements for both courses and credits.
Through MBU/MBS dual credit arrangements, well-prepared, advanced MBU students may satisfy up to fifty percent of the course and credit requirements of any MBS master’s degree through Advanced Placement. To use an undergraduate course for Advanced Placement, students may ask to advance place 300-400 level classes with a grade of B- or better. The following MBU undergraduate courses are pre-approved as eligible for Advanced Placement credit, with additional courses at the 300-level or above considered upon request:
BIBC 321 – Baptist Heritage
BIBI 3xx – any OT Bible
BIBI 3xx – any NT Bible
*BIGK 111 for GNT 503 – Greek Grammar 1
*BIGK 112 for GNT 504 – Greek Grammar 2
BIGK 213 for GNT 517 – Greek Reading
BIGK 214 for GNT 518 – Greek Exegetical Grammar
BIPA 335 – Theology of Pastoral Ministry
BIGK 4xx – any Greek exegesis course
BIHE 411 – Hebrew Grammar 1
BIHE 412 – Hebrew Grammar 2
BIPA 471 – Theology and Practice of Pastoral Counseling
BIPA 473 – Fundamentalism
BIPA 473 – Church Administration and Finance
BIPA 475 – Dispensationalism
*Apply only to the MDiv program as General Electives
For undergraduate courses from other institutions, Maranatha allows up to 36 hours of Advanced Placement credit for the Master of Divinity degree and up to twelve hours for any MBS Master of Arts degree. Advanced Placement courses must be 300 level or above. The grade for each course must be a B- or better, and the student’s final college GPA must be 2.5 or better.
MBS will undertake an evaluation to ensure that all courses transferred and applied toward graduate degree requirements demonstrate equivalence with MBS’s own courses required for that degree or are of equivalent rigor. The student may request a transcript evaluation to identify classes that may qualify for Advanced Placement credit. In cases where the undergrad institution is unknown to MBU, additional information may be required for a final determination, such as a college catalog, course syllabi and examples of the student’s academic work.
The student may initiate an Advanced Placement evaluation using the Advanced Placement application, multiple classes can be entered in one form. Please include all the information requested on the form.
From schools other than MBU, Advanced Placement credit for Greek or Hebrew requires a competency exam. (Credit for language courses taken on the graduate level are eligible for transfer credit without a placement examination). There is one exam for Greek and one for Hebrew; students may receive Advanced Placement for more than one class based on the results of the Greek or Hebrew exam. The seminary will give as much credit as it deems appropriate based on the placement test results.
Transfer Credit
Maranatha Baptist Seminary generally accepts graduate credit earned at other accredited institutions for transfer into one of the seminary’s degree programs. MBS will undertake a transcript evaluation to ensure that all courses transferred and applied toward degree requirements, demonstrate equivalence with MBS’s own courses required for that degree, or are of equivalent rigor. Except for courses articulated through existing institutional agreements, MBS cannot make any promise to prospective students regarding the acceptance of credits awarded by examination, credit for prior learning, or credits for transfer until the evaluation has been conducted.
The transfer credit will be applied to a comparable MBS course or as elective credit.
The grade awarded for each transferred course must be a B- or better.
MBS Credit Hour Residency Requirements
A minimum of fifty-percent (50%) of the credit hours required for any MA degree must be awarded by Maranatha. A minimum of thirty (30) credit hours of course work for the Master of Divinity must be awarded by Maranatha. For degree-seeking students, a credit hour residency requirement indicates the number of credits you must complete through Maranatha in order to graduate. It does not mean that you must come to Maranatha’s physical campus but must obtain these credits through Maranatha’s various academic course formats.
