Accreditation

Owing to a ruling by the State of Indiana and in compliance with the Foundation's State Charter, the Foundation is at liberty to offer its degree programs to professionals in the cognate fields of ministry such as pastoral care and counseling, mediation, church administration, spiritual direction, as well as in other areas of study. The Foundation maintains an internet library rather than a physical library and its teaching staff are contract faculty rather than residential. Because the Foundation does not fall under the jurisdiction of the Association of Theological Schools or the North Central Association of Colleges and Universities, the Foundation neither holds nor will it seek these affiliations.

The Graduate Theological Foundation is a Member Affiliate of the Association of American Colleges and Universities and an institutional member of the Association for Clinical Pastoral Education. The Foundation has been recognized by the Department of Veterans Affairs as offering a Doctor of Ministry degree which meets the education requirements for employment as a chaplain in the Dept. for Veterans Affairs.

All professional and academic work taken for any graduate degree offered by the Foundation must be from an institution recognized by the U. S. Department of Education, the Council on Higher Education Accreditation, denominationally sponsored venue institutions, or an internationally recognized validating agency such as the International Association for Distance Learning (UK). In special cases, an exemption may be granted by the Provost upon petition.

The Graduate Theological Foundation is listed annually in the Higher Education Directory under “Consortia of Institutions of Higher Education.”

The Graduate Theological Foundation is also listed in the Seminary Section of the 2007 Yearbook of American and Canadian Churches published by the National Council of Churches. The Foundation maintains membership in over thirty national and international professional organizations and enjoys full accreditation from the International Association for Distance Learning.

http://www.gtfeducation.org/About_GTF/Memberships.html

The Foundation bases its academic integrity on its affiliations with Rome and Oxford and has chosen from its inception in 1962 not to formally associate with any government agency for the validation of its educational agenda or programs.

Over the years, the Foundation has enjoyed formal consultative and programmatic relationships with the Pontifical Council on Interreligious Dialogue in the Vatican; the Church of England and the Archbishop of Canterbury commencing with Lord Robert Runcie in 1983; Oxford University’s International Programmes and Department For Continuing Education (with Dr. Angus Hawkins since 1994); and has the endorsement from the Centro Pro Unione in Rome (with Father James Puglisi, SA, since 1992).