Despite tweaks, a finalized new accountability rule might not bode well for ministry education programs, religious college leaders say.
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Religious colleges and their representatives say the Education Department’s plan to spare them from a steep penalty under a new accountability measure still fails to protect many of their programs and risks hurting pipelines to church leadership.
Under the new accountability rule, which was finalized last week, college programs will have to show that their students earn at least more than an adult with only a high school diploma in order to remain eligible for federal student loans. Just over 5 percent of programs are expected to fail the test, according to a department analysis.
Religious colleges have warned for months that the accountability metric could devastate them. A department analysis found that 9 percent of undergraduate religious studies programs and 6 percent of graduate ones would fail the test. However, the Association for Biblical Higher Education Commission on Accreditation has said 53 percent and 89 percent of students in religious studies bachelor’s and master’s degrees, respectively, could lose access to federal loans. The president of the commission, Philip Dearborn, previously called the proposed policy an “existential threat to the future of religious higher education.” He and other advocates pushed for ministry-training programs at religious colleges to be exempt from the new rules.
