Strange man threatens theological education

[Jerome]

Bible college and seminary presidents are up in arms about a planned scheme to deny federal financial aid to students in bachelor's and master's programs whose graduates can't be shown to be better off financially with a theological degree:

https://www.christianitytoday.com/2...financial-aid-earnings-test-regulation-trump/

https://baptistnews.com/article/christian-schools-endangered-by-new-trump-rule/

"The Trump administration has proposed a new rule that could devastate Christian higher education by tying student loans to the earning potential of degree programs."

"If postsecondary education programs do not leave graduates better off, taxpayers should not subsidize them,” said Under Secretary of Education Nicholas Kent."

"But leaders in Christian higher education warn the earnings metric required...could ravage programs that produce pastors....'It’s an existential threat to the future of religious higher education in the U.S. — I don’t think that’s an overstatement,” said Philip Dearborn, head of the Association for Biblical Higher Education...'It came out of left field'."

"'Financial outcomes matter, but they don’t totally measure whether an education is worthwhile,' said David Hoag, president of the Council for Christian Colleges and Universities."

"Frank Yamada, head of the Association of Theological Schools, led a recent webinar warning ATS member schools of the looming rule."

 

[Jerome]

Some background on Nicholas Kent, the Undersecretary of Education responsible for the financial aid denial scheme:

https://www.presidentialprayerteam.org/2025/09/24/nicholas-kent-under-secretary-of-education/

His degree is from a United Methodist school, but the strange thing is there is no record of his name in that school's archives. I finally found him in its yearbooks, but under a different name!

2004 yearbook, Nicholas Smith
2005 yearbook, Nicholas Smith, in the 'Pre-Law Society'

 

[JonC]

I agree with tying student loans (federal loans) to the earning potential of degree programs. I would prefer they also be limited to meet the degree demands of the workforce in the US.

I think the outcry will be more from seminaries who benefit financially from federal student loans.

IMHO, seminary students should be supported by their churches or church organizations.

 

[Jerome]

Nicholas Smith? / Nicholas Kent? , takes the stage at 3 minutes in:

 

[Deacon]

Years ago, in a church I attended, we took part of training up seminarians by hiring student interns.

One student was his last year of seminary and obviously should have been counseled earlier to pursue other interests.

The pastors handled it, but the school should have recognized it much earlier.

The gentleman stayed with our church and did okay in a secular vocation.

So many students are being encouraged to study advanced degrees with little or not hope of finding a job in that profession, i.e. history, art, women's studies, biology, etc. Why waste their time and our money on degrees that will not be utilized?

Rob

 

[Armchair Apologist]

I agree with tying student loans (federal loans) to the earning potential of degree programs. I would prefer they also be limited to meet the degree demands of the workforce in the US.

I think the outcry will be more from seminaries who benefit financially from federal student loans.

IMHO, seminary students should be supported by their churches or church organizations.

Regarding this, I believe we may actually be in agreement!

Any financial institution loaning money should do so based upon legitimate confidence that they are able to pay the loan back. In other words, the degree they are pursuing should bring a reasonable return on investment!

It is quite difficult to assess the future earnings potential of a Seminary grad in the same manner as you would someone such as a medical doctor or lawyer. If we say a Seminary grad HAS to average $150,000/year in order to pay off his student loan debt, how many positions out there would offer him such a salary and what would this do to the smaller congregations that can hardly pay their pastor $50,000/year? What if God is calling this seminary grad to serve as a missionary and live in relative poverty? Do we not want those going into the ministry to be adequately educated and prepared? The typical cost of a seminary education often prevents this! DTS cost per credit hour is over $700 which is absolutely insane!

Yes, I believe that training for ministry should be accomplished as much as possible and practical at the local church level. Those in the congregation who see their gifting and calling should support them wherever and however possible. In this day and age, you do have online programs which mean you no longer have to quit your day job and move away in order to attend Seminary. The downside is that there is less face time with a professor and valuable peer-to-peer interaction is also a challenge. I believe that local congregations coming together and pooling their resources could mitigate much of this.