In order to be considered for enrollment to the Doctor of Ministry in Biblical Counseling program at The Master’s University (TMU), the following eligibility requirements must be met by the applicant. Meeting these requirements does not guarantee the applicant will be accepted into the program. The administration and faculty of the university reserve the right to withdraw the privilege of enrollment or to place a student on probation if, after enrollment, the student proves to be lacking in these qualifications.

Admission Requirements

An individual must meet the following requirements to be admitted to TMU’s D.Min. degree program:

Spiritual Requirements

1. Strong testimony of faith in Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord.
2. Demonstration of submission to the will of God and obedience to the Word of God.
3. Agreement with the TMU doctrinal statement and student standards of conduct, along with specific statements on homosexuality, gender identity, and the role of women in the church and the home.
4. Agreement with our university’s doctrinal statement on the doctrine of sign gifts, namely that sign gifts, such as speaking in tongues, prophecy given directly from the Lord, and miracles performed by human hands, have ceased today. Those who believe in sign gifts may be accepted into the program, but only on the following conditions…
   • The applicant must be able to clearly demonstrate a resolute belief in the absolute sufficiency of God’s Word over all matters of life and godliness and that any sign gift believed to be in operation today has no authority over the life of a believer.
   • The applicant must demonstrate a teachable spirit and be willing to adopt a learning posture when this issue is brought up in class.
   • The applicant must understand that his stance on sign gifts continuing today may cause him to score lower on the ACBC exam, if not yet taken, and may even prevent him from becoming ACBC certified, if not yet certified, since it is an important question the student must answer during the certification process.
   • The applicant must understand that his stance on sign gifts continuing today may impact his GPA in certain classes when these matters are addressed in class assignments.
5. Deacon/deaconess qualified according to 1 Timothy 3:8-12. Please note, the applicant is not required to be a deacon or deaconess at his or her local church, but meet the character qualities described in the passage.
6. Possession of the personal and spiritual gifts necessary for counseling and discipleship.
7. Recommendation by church leaders and other people who have had significant contact with the applicant.

Academic Requirements

1. Bachelor’s degree from a regionally accredited college or university with at least a 3.0 cumulative GPA or higher (official transcripts required)
2. At least 72 credit hours of master’s degree level work in theological studies—the equivalent of the government standard for a fully accredited Master of Divinity (M.Div.)—from a regionally accredited institution with at least a 3.0 cumulative (GPA) or higher (official transcripts required)
3. Preferred certification with the Association of Certified Biblical Counselors (ACBC)

Ministry Requirements

• At least 3 years of practical biblical counseling experience
• Current involvement in a weekly biblical counseling ministry

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Application Requirements

The following documents must be submitted in order to apply to The Master’s University:

1. Application for Graduate Admission
2. Official transcripts* from all schools from which degrees were conferred, indicating the completion of a bachelor’s degree and at least 72 hours of master level work in theological education from regionally accredited institutions (see below for information on regional accreditation)
3. Three recommendations: Pastoral, ministry peer, and personal (contained within the application)
4. Writing sample of 15-20 pages evidencing graduate level writing and research (submitted in the application)
5. Short-answer questions on theology and practical ministry (contained within the application)
6. Additional doctrinal questions on key controversial theological issues (in an email sent from the application)
7. $50 application fee

*Official transcripts refer to transcripts that are sent using a safe method of transference, such as a secure online portal or a sealed envelope through the mail. Most institutions can send transcripts using one of these two methods. See “Reach out to Your Institutions for Official Transcripts” on our Admissions page for more information.

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Regional Accreditation Requirement

To be admitted into the DMinBC program, your institutions will need to be regionally accredited. Regional accreditation denotes a type of accreditation as authorized by the Council of Regional Accrediting Commissions (C-RAC).

Many seminaries and theological institutions are not regionally accredited. For this reason, our school is open to making exceptions depending on the quality of accreditation of the school you attended. Please reach out to us to find out if your school meets this exception.

Otherwise, for your institution to be considered regionally accredited, your school must be accredited by one of the following 7 commissions governed by this council…

C-RAC Regional Accreditation Commissions

1. Higher Learning Commission (HLC)
2. Middle States Commission on Higher Education / Mid-Atlantic Region Commission on Higher Education (MSCHE)
3. Middle States Commission on Secondary Schools (MSA-CESS)
4. New England Association of Schools and Colleges (NEASC)
5. Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities (NCCU)
6. Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC)
7. Western Association of Schools and Colleges, Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges (WASC-ACCJC)
8. Western Association of Schools and Colleges, Senior College and University Commission (WASC)

There are a few other accreditation commissions that qualify as regional accreditation, but they are rarer and give accreditation to special technical, vocational, and community colleges.

Other Regional Accreditation Commissions

1. New York State Board of Regents
2. Oklahoma Board of Career and Technology Education
3. Pennsylvania State Board of Vocational Education

To see if your school is regionally accredited, you can search for your institution on the Database of Accredited Postsecondary Institutions and Programs (DAPIP) website (button below), and make sure your institution was accredited under one of the commissions above when you graduated from your institution. If the website is unclear or you are unsure, you can always reach out to your institution directly to find out their status of accreditation during the time you graduated.

See If My School’s Regionally Accredited

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International Student Requirements

New! The Doctor of Ministry in Biblical Counseling program has been approved to enroll students with foreign citizenship into the program as of June 25, 2024!

The Master’s University is authorized under Federal law to enroll non-immigrant alien students. If this describes you, there a few additional requirements you will need to fulfill before you can start taking classes in the DMinBC program…

Transcript Evaluation

If either your undergraduate or graduate transcripts are from an institution outside of the United States, our office can check to see if your institution has already received official approval of evaluation by our institution. Our department will be contacted automatically about this when you start an application and add your international institution(s) to it. If our office cannot find prior evidence of evaluation for your institution, you will need to have your transcripts evaluated to make sure your institution complies with our regional accreditation. At this moment, we do not have anyone on staff at The Master’s University who is trained to evaluate international transcripts. You will need to have your transcripts evaluated through a credible U.S. based third-party agency. Evaluations from international third-party agencies will not be accepted. Educational Credential Evaluators (ECE) is a good U.S. based evaluation agency you can use. If you decide to go with them, you must use their General with Grade Average service. Such a service unfortunately costs $130, but it is the cheapest evaluation service we have found that fulfills all the requirements to evaluate your transcripts for our purposes.

Evaluate My Transcripts

ESL Exam

Applicants for whom English is a second language, must take a special exam to demonstrate your ability to read, write, and speak English adequately.

This step is mandatory for all international students unless one of the two scenarios applies to you:

(1) You have taken an ESL exam and received a high enough score according to our standards (TOEFL = 100 of higher / IELTS = 7 or higher).

(2) You have taken your undergraduate or graduate degree from an English-speaking institution.

Otherwise, you will need to take an ESL exam. You are welcome to take either a TOEFL or IELTS exam, or if you already have taken one of these exams before, you can submit documentation of either of these. A minimum score of 100 is required on the TOEFL exam and a minimum score of 7 is required on the IELTS. Your application will designate a place where you can upload or send us the results of your exam.

For the TOEFL exam, click here…

TOEFL

For the IELTS exam, click here…

IELTS

You can take one or both of these exams as many times as you want. We recommend you take an English refresher class to help you prepare for these exams.

While all classroom instruction is conducted in English, the administration, faculty and staff attempt to be sensitive to the needs of our international students. Please contact us if you have any questions about this requirement.

Student Visa

Since you are required to join us in-person for on-campus instruction at the end of each semester, you will be required to file for an F-1 student visa for each year you are in the program after getting admitted into the DMinBC program. This includes filling out an I-20 request form, paying an I-901 SEVIS fee, and scheduling an appointment with your consulate to be granted approval to study in the States with us (click here and start with STEP 7 to see the full process). This process can take time and be quite a hassle, so please jump on this as early as you can once you’re admitted and be patient through the process. We will do our best to help you walk through this.

If you have questions about the F-1 visa process, please contact us.

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