To “eliminate redundancy in accreditation,” B.H. Carroll has withdrawn from its membership under the Commission on Accreditation of the Association for Biblical Higher Education in preparation for its merger with East Texas Baptist University.
B.H. Carroll remains accredited by the Association for Theological Schools, and it will be accredited as a seminary within ETBU, pending review and approval of its merger with ETBU by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges.
“We chose to withdraw to eliminate institutional redundancy in accreditation,” said Greg Tomlin, professor of Christian heritage and director of the Ph.D. program. “After we achieved ATS accreditation in 2017, we no longer needed ABHE accreditation but maintained it to strengthen ties with other evangelically minded schools.”
However, as an ATS-accredited seminary within a SACS-accredited university, B.H. Carroll decided “it was time” to withdraw voluntarily from ABHE’s accreditation commission.
“It saves us time, institutional resources and money,” Tomlin explained.
In a Jan. 3 letter to ABHE, B.H. Carroll President Gene Wilkes said the association has been “a valued partner in our shared mission of biblical theological education since 2012.”
ABHE was the first group to accredit B.H. Carroll after examining the quality of its programs and faculty, as well as the unique nature of its model, using online instruction to provide theological education to students where they live and work.
B.H. Carroll will always be grateful and remain committed to helping ABHE maintain its role in supporting biblical higher education, Wilkes said.
“God is doing great things through ABHE, and you have my personal support and prayers as we move into God’s future for us all,” Wilkes wrote to the group’s commissioners.
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ETBU administrators plan to explore affiliate membership with the association after the merger is complete to maintain the seminary’s ties with ABHE.
“Our notification was a procedural requirement to comply with ABHE standards for accredited member institutions, but withdrawal was not required because of the merger,” Tomlin said.
Withdrawal from ABHE’s accreditation commission has no effect on students who have received a degree from B.H. Carroll, he noted.
“Their past degrees were and remain accredited,” he said.
B.H. Carroll will continue to offer certificate programs for students who want graduate-level instruction but who are not seeking a degree, he added.
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