Our mission: “New Hope Christian College, an institution of higher education, exists to disciple emerging Christian leaders by developing their theology, ministry skills, and character in order to win souls, plant fruitful churches, and lead as exemplary ambassadors for Christ in the ministry and marketplace.”
NHCC’s mission statement declares what we are and what we do for the kingdom of God. However, without an accrediting agency holding NHCC to specified standards of excellence, the degree itself would be the same as a certificate printed at home. NHCC, however, is accredited by the Association for Biblical Higher Education (ABHE), the oldest Bible college accreditation agency in the United States, specializing in biblical ministry formation and professional leadership education. It is officially recognized by both the Council for Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA) and the U.S. Department of Education (USDE). NHCC is pleased to be one of the more than 150 institutions of biblical higher education that have proven the value of their degree through the accreditation process with ABHE.
There is quite a bit of confusion about accreditation: for example, national versus regional accreditation. Previously schools were accredited either nationally or regionally. This outdated regionally-based accreditation language, however, has been updated at the federal level. Legislation has, “end[ed] the outdated concept of regional accreditation and clarify[ied] that the Department [of Education] holds all accreditors to the same standards” (USDE). The US Department of Education goes on to say, “As a result, students should not face barriers to career entry and mobility or to continuing education, based solely on which accreditor oversees the school they attended” (USDE). ABHE and the regional accrediting organizations have the exact same recognition by the Council for Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA) and the Department of Education (USDE).
The State of Oregon is currently in the process to change its accreditation language. Oregon’s Office of Degree Authorization (ODA) has, “proposed to update statute and rule language to remove distinctions between regional or national accreditation and will instead refer to institutional accrediting agencies as recognized by the USDE.” Unfortunately, States are slow to implement this update, which has allowed the distinction between national and regional accreditation to continue. Worse, it has been unfortunate that some larger institutions have needlessly continued to inflate their educational credentials (USDE).
Regardless of how secular organizations discriminate against faith-based institutions, we are confident that God will honor the educational achievements of our students. NHCC continues to stand with and uphold ABHE’s standards of accreditation whose mission is to “Advance Biblical Higher Education For Kingdom Impact” (ABHE). NHCC students emerge victoriously as leaders for the kingdom of God in the ministry and marketplace.
