The Ultimate Scholarship: Jehovah-Jireh

Attending seminary is understandably tough for most students. It always seems as though there is too much month at the end of a check. To put it another way, “we just ain’t got the money!” So what do you do? How do you pay for all of those books and seminary courses that you know God wants you to take? It sure does not seem as though the scholarship program for seminary X is throwing money at you. What, then, are you to do?

In short, trust God. Now, I understand that that is much easier said than done, but I can honestly speak from experience over the last year (and I am sure the next 3 or 4 as I finish my M.Div.) that He will remain faithful. If God has called you to seminary, then God will provide you the means to pay for your seminary. We all know that the two-letter word “if” has huge implications, but it must be understood in order to proceed on faith.

I know many students who are called to seminary but have had to drop out for various reasons. This does not immediately mean that they are not called to seminary. It does mean that they are not called right now. One thing I have learned is that God will provide for His children in His time. He certainly is in no hurry; after all, He has all of eternity, right?

I know of one minister who is a quadrapalegic who does not have any health insurance at all. Whenever he is asked by doctor’s and hospitals who his insurance provider is, he replies, “I am insured by Jehovah Jireh.” You want to know something amazing about his “insurance provider”? This man lives completely debt free. Talk about faith.

I could easily go on and on about how we should trust in God for all things and that should include your seminary fees and such, but I do not want to do that. I want to encourage you to first of all make certain that you are called to be in seminary. If that answer is in the affirmative, then I believe you have the right to pray to God to provide the money for you to do so. He did create the universe out of nothing, what is a couple grand a year for seminary?

What I am not saying is do not stop looking for scholarships. By all means, if God will bless through that avenue, then be blessed. However, if the scholarships do not come and you are not able to readily pay for seminary, then prayerfully ask God if He wants you in seminary. If He says yes, then trust in Him to provide. He is a faithful God and will always show you a better way.

Your Seminary Blog Could Win You $10,000

Oh Happy Day!

Good news bloggers, someone FINALLY wants to pay you. The folks over at college scholarship are hosting scholarship competition for BLOGGERS!

Everyone rush over and drop in your application. Now, the scholarship isn’t awarded until October but, hey, go ahead and get your entry in… then you’ll forget about it… until you get the $10,000 email!

Buy one get one free

So, are you married? Does your spouse want to get his or her degree as well? There might be a great opportunity available for you.

Many seminaries offer the spouse of full time students the opportunity to attend the seminary at no charge at all! Now, this is really an amazing offer. The catch is often that the spouse my “audit” classes for free. That just means he or she can sit in on the classes for free. However, there are a few seminaries that will actually offer your spouse to take classes FOR CREDIT! Now, THAT is amazing. Your spouse is a real student, with real coursework, receiving a real grade, that will result in a real degree. Can you imagine that, two degrees for the price of one!!!

Now, one challenge is that most of us can’t have both spouses attending seminary full time. So, how can you both get your degrees? Well, an admissions officer I spoke with recommended that one of you go full time halfway through the program, while the other goes part time. Then, when you hit the midway point of the program, switch. Your spouse goes full time, and you go part. The program takes longer, but again, 2 for 1 is worth it if you ask me.

So, as your looking at seminaries, be sure to ask the admissions officer what kind of opportunities there are for your spouse. You might be pleasantly surprised.

Average tuition cost for seminary student

According to a report from the Association of Theological Schools, the average tuition for a full time seminary student (05-06 school year) was $11,039.

So, if that’s the average… then some of you are paying less and some more… I think that number is probably pretty close to the ballpark I’m going to be in. Maybe we should have a competition and whoever has the highest tuition bill we all send him or her $5 through pay-pal.

Maybe once the readership here increases we’ll start the competition.

Great job while in seminary

I discovered this one while starting to work on the scholarship list last night and figured it might be worth its own post.

Apparently, UPS has a scholarship program for its employees (can you say $3000 a year). Not only that, but it is available to part-time employees. That’s right, work a part-time job for a big company that offers health benefits and get $3000 for your tuition. It seems like a sweet gig to me.

Anyone out there that works for UPS? Anyone tried this program? Let us know… we’re all interested (well, at least I am).

Seminary Scholarship List

Welcome. This page is, by far, the most visited page on GoingtoSeminary.com. Odds are that you are here because your googled “Seminary Scholarship” or some derivative thereof. If that is the case, first, welcome to GoingtoSemianry.com. This site is designed to be a resource for those who are considering or currently attending seminary. We have articles on life in seminary, money, tips and advice for seminarians, love and marriage, an online discussion forum, and much more. We invite you to browse around and leave a comment or two.

Below you will find a list of scholarships that we’ve stumbled across that are specifically designed for seminarians. As you probably know by now, scholarships are hard to come by for seminarians. While we try to compile some of the ones we’ve found, honestly, the best place to start is with your seminary. Almost every seminary has multiple scholarships available exclusively for their students. So, be sure to check your seminary’s website or financial aid office. That said, here are some scholarships we’ve come across:

• GREAT resource for finding money at The Fund For Theological Education
• Acton Institute (3 Different scholarships)
• Bohnett Memorial Fund
• The Mississippi Baptist Foundation
• The Baptist Foundation of Alabama
• Arkansas Baptist Foundation (6 listed)
  
• Baptist Communicators Association
• Northwest Baptist Foundation
• Here’s list of scholarships with phone numbers and email contacts
• Chattanooga Christian Foundation
• Funds for Theological Education
• UPS ($3000 to $4,000 tuition assistance for part time employees)
• Church Partnership Programs (Lots of seminaries will cover a matching portion of your tuition if your church will commit to pay a percentage as well ) You’ll have to check with your seminary to see if they offer a program like this.