Policies

The following section outlines important policies of the Foundation of which students should make themselves aware.

Tuition Payment

The first half of tuition is paid within 30 days of acceptance to the degree program. Student files will not be activated and students will not be considered "in good standing" until the first half of the tuition is paid or a payment plan is approved and implemented.

The second half of the tuition, the project or thesis processing fee, and graduation fee are due by March 1 of the year the student intends to graduate. These fees may be broken up into a monthly payment plan at no interest, but with a $10.00 monthly service fee.

Students who are unable to make tuition payments in two installments may request to be placed on a payment plan. Payment plan options allow the student to make small monthly or quarterly tuition payments for the duration of the degree program. There is no interest charged on payment plans. If a student requests a mailed invoice as a reminder to make payment, there is a ten dollar fee per invoice.

Students may make payments by credit card.

For Ph.D., Th.D., and A.B.D. students, the Thesis Supervision fee is due upon nomination of a Thesis Supervisor. The second half of the tuition, the thesis processing fee and the graduation fee are due prior to the oral defense.

NOTE: Canadian and foreign checks must be made payable in U.S. funds.
 

Tuition Reimbursement

Any student choosing to withdraw from a degree program within 90 days of acceptance will receive 80% reimbursement of any portion of tuition paid within those 90 days.

Degree Program Transfer

Any student wishing to transfer to a different degree program must submit a written request to the Academic Affairs Committee. The student will be assessed a program transfer fee of $200. The student will be subject to the tuition rates, fees, program guidelines and policies of the Bulletin that is current at the time of transfer. Previously completed coursework will be re-evaluated for applicability to the new degree program.
 

Academic Work

All coursework is due by February 1 of the intended year of graduation. All papers written for the following courses must be submitted within 90 days of completing the course or no course credit will be awarded. (For E-Tutorials, all papers written must be submitted within 30 days of completing the course or no course credit will be awarded.)

Independent Study
Foundation Institutes
On-Site Tutorials
E-Tutorials (The final E-Tutorial paper must be received within 30 days of completion of the course in order for the student to receive credit.)
Oxford Summer Programme in Theology
Centro Pro Unione Summer Course in Rome

Documented Use of Sources

Students are held to a high standard of performance at the Foundation in the writing of their papers for course requirements. This high standard places the burden of responsibility and accountability upon the student to demonstrate competency in the literature and a capacity to bring critical analysis to the work in hand. If a student has disregarded protocol with respect to primary sources as relates to acceptable documented citations with relevant references, the evaluating faculty has the discretion of returning the work to the student for reworking. No charge of intentional deception is implied in the returning of such work but the student must accept the decision of the evaluating faculty and in turn must resubmit the reworked document for final approval. Failure on the part of the student to rework the document to the evaluating faculty's satisfaction will result in failure to earn credit for the work in hand. Any student wishing to challenge the decision of the evaluating faculty must submit a letter with a detailed explanation of the student's position to the Academic Affairs Committee. Rulings by the AAC are final.
 

Online Thesis Library

The Foundation requires all academic doctoral degree students (A.B.D., Th.D., Ph.D., Research) to submit one copy of their thesis in electronic form in addition to any required physical copies. The format of the thesis must be either MS Word (.doc) or Adobe Reader (.pdf). Students may either email the thesis as an attachment, or mail the thesis as a CD-ROM. The thesis must be in its final form and submitted three months prior to defense.
 

Transcripts

The Office of the Registrar at the Foundation maintains all records. Alumni and current students of the Foundation should, when requesting a transcript, identify themselves by name, degree program and year of graduation. All requests for transcripts must be received in writing. The transcript reflects all work completed for the degree including all transferred courses.

The cost of each transcript is $10.
No transcript may be posted to anyone or to anywhere without prior written request from the student and payment at the time of request.
One unofficial physical copy of the transcript is provided to the student upon graduation.

Diplomas

No student may ever receive more than one original copy of the diploma.
If the Foundation has made an error based on the student's form indicating his/her desired name, title, etc., the Foundation will reprint/replace the diploma free of charge. The reprint/replacement will only be available after the student has sent in his/her flawed diploma.
If the student wishes to have a new diploma based upon his/her decision to change the original requested name, title, etc., the Foundation will reprint/replace the diploma for a $25 fee. The reprint/replacement will only be available after the student has sent in his/her flawed diploma.