Think being the biggest, richest, hottest, coolest SBC seminary doesn’t matter? It does to a lot of people although I wouldn’t have any hesitation in recommending any of the SBC’s six plus that outstanding Seventh, Mid-America Baptist Theological Seminary. No numbers on the latter in the SBC Book of Reports but plenty of the six.
Enrollment (Full-Time Equivalent, funded and unfunded; total credit hours divided by 24)
SBTS 2,294
NOBTS 1,309
SEBTS 1,278
SWBTS 1,249
MWBTS 931
GS 490
Increasing FTE (three year trend): Southern, Midwestern.
Decreasing FTE: Gateway, New Orleans, Southeastern, Southwestern.
As a group, seminary enrollment as measured by FTE has declined 2.4% over the past three years. Gateway has declined the most, 16.4% but then they went through the relocation. Southeastern is close behind, declining 15.8%. I’m guessing that one would need to look at a longer span of years to know exactly what is going on.
Actual FTEs approved by the Council of Seminary Presidents for CP Seminary Funding Formula
SBTS 2,294
SEBTS 1,278
SWBTS 1,249
NOBTS 1,120
MWBTS 931
GS 388
Some students don’t “count” when it comes to sharing in CP funding; that is, the numbers that are used to allocate the seminary’s share of the SBC CP allocation. Someone else can explain who counts and who doesn’t.
Basic Degrees awarded for the 2015-2016 academic year (MDiv + Th.M + M.A. & other 2-year)
SBTS 379
SWBTS 356
GS 341
SEBTS 328
NOBTS 240
MWBTS 105
Gateway needs far more sheepskins per dollar, since they awarded 237 “M.A. & other 2-year” degrees, more than any other seminary. The number of traditional degrees was much lower: 69 MDiv degrees and 35 ThM degrees. Someone can explain this. I had a conversation with a Gateway prof in Phoenix but cannot recall what exactly accounted for this. Edumacate me.
Cheapest and Most Expensive
Cheapest: SWBTS estimates the annual cost for a married SBC student on campus, tuition, books, fees, and housing is $10,220.
Most expensive: SBTS estimates the annual cost for a married SBC student on campus, tuition, books, fees, and housing is $17,740. That’s 74% higher than the cheapest.
Cheapest tuition per credit hour for an SBC student: SWBTS, $220.
Most expensive tuition per credit hour for an SBC student: SBTS, $280. That’s 27% higher than the cheapest.
New Orleans, Midwestern, and Southwestern are about the same in credit hour costs.
Assorted odd figures
- Midwestern awarded just 27 MDiv degrees for the 2015-2016 academic year. That’s less than 3% of their FTE. That’s way lower than the other five.
- Southern received more tuition revenue for 2016-2017 than GS, MWBTS, and NOBTS combined.
- The CP allocation formula is rather funky and I don’t know how it is figured but the per-SBC student allocation for SEBTS was $2,535. Gateway’s was more than three times that amount per student.
- Southern received 8.3% of their revenues from endowment income. Midwestern received only 0.6%. Southwestern had a negative $3.8 million in endowment income.
Someone has headaches over all this.
