The Most Affordable Online Christian Ministry & Leadership Degree - City Vision University

The Most Affordable Online Christian Ministry & Leadership Degree - City Vision University
Radically affordable
accredited online
Bachelor's in
Christian Ministry & Leadership
for
parachurch
and
nonprofit leaders
Request Information
Credit Hours
Years (Full-Time)
Tuition
$800/course | $8,000/year
Next Start Date
June 8, 2026
Class Type
100% Online, 8 Week Courses
Transfer Credits
Up to 75% of credits can be transferred or up to 25% come from prior learning assessment
What Will You Learn in Our
Online Bachelor's in Christian Ministry and Leadership?
Core Courses
Concentrations
Course Competency Map
Degree Outcomes
Core Courses
Required Core Courses
MIN101: Vocation, Calling & Purpose of Work
ORG101: Introduction to Nonprofit & Ministry Management (take early in program)
ORG431: Leadership in Diverse and Under-Resourced Communities
Theology Core (Pick 1)
MIN204: Theology & Strategy of Urban Ministry
MIN302: Biblical Theology
Cross-Cultural Ministry Core (pick 1)
MIN203: Urban Youth Ministry
MIN305: Christian Community Development and the Social Justice Tradition
ORG303: Cross-Cultural Management & Ministry
Bible Core
(Pick 2)
MIN201: Old Testament Foundations
MIN202: New Testament Foundations
MIN301: Introduction to Biblical Interpretation
MIN410: Biblical Interpretation (undergrad section of graduate course)
MIN411: New Testament Survey (undergraduate section of graduate course)
MIN412: Foundations of Christian Theology (undergrad section of graduate course)
Emotional Health Core (Pick 1)
ADC202: Family Issues & Recovery
ADC307: Technology, Life Balance & Behavioral Addictions
MIN104: Wounded Healers: Holistic Addiction Recovery & Self-Care
MIN206: Emotional Intelligence in Ministry & Management
Concentrations
Urban Missions Concentration
(Pick 3)
ADC201: Spirituality & Addiction
ADC202: Family Issues & Recovery
ADC301: Counseling in Urban & Multicultural Environments
ADC302: Case Management
ADC401: Managing Residential Recovery Programs
ADC440: Christian Approaches to Counseling and Life Transformation (undergrad section of graduate course)
MIN104: Wounded Healers: Holistic Addiction Recovery & Self-Care
MIN305: Christian Community Development and the Social Justice Tradition
MIN310: Chaplaincy
ORG301: Nonprofit Human Resources
ORG302: Social Entrepreneurship
ORG303: Cross-Cultural Management & Ministry
ORG350: Mentored Ministry & Leadership
ORG405: Volunteer Management
ORG432: Nonprofit Educational Program Design (undergrad section of graduate course)
ORG433: Grant Writing (undergraduate section of graduate course)
ORG437: Nonprofit Program Planning and Evaluation
Ministry Management Concentration (Pick 3)
ADC440: Christian Approaches to Counseling and Life Transformation (undergrad section of graduate course)
BUS202: Introduction to Management and Leadership
BUS302: Retail Management
BUS303: Food Service Management
GEN103: Personal Finance (using Financial Peace)
MIN104: Wounded Healers: Holistic Addiction Recovery & Self-Care
MIN205/BUS203: Customer Service, Radical Hospitality & Trauma Informed Ministry
ORG301: Nonprofit Human Resources
ORG302: Social Entrepreneurship
ORG303: Cross-Cultural Management & Ministry
ORG350: Mentored Ministry & Leadership
ORG401: Nonprofit Financial Accounting
ORG403: Nonprofit Fundraising
ORG405: Volunteer Management
ORG433: Grant Writing (undergraduate section of graduate course)
ORG436: Nonprofit Executive Leadership & Board Development (undergrad section of graduate course)
ORG437: Nonprofit Program Planning and Evaluation
ORG439: Major Gifts and Planned Giving
Counseling Ministry Concentration (Pick 3)
ADC101: Introduction to Christian Addiction Counseling (take early in program)
ADC201: Spirituality & Addiction
ADC202: Family Issues & Recovery
ADC301: Counseling in Urban & Multicultural Environments
ADC302: Case Management
ADC303: Theories of Psychology and Counseling
ADC304: Introduction to Psychopharmacology of Addiction
ADC305: Sexual Issues in Addiction
ADC306: Recovery Coaching & Peer Support Specialist
ADC401: Managing Residential Recovery Programs
ADC402: Counseling Alcoholics
ADC403: Addiction Counseling Assessment & Treatment Planning
ADC404: Mental Illness, Addiction & Co-occurring Disorders
ADC405: Group Counseling Practices
ADC406: Addiction Counseling Certification Preparation
ADC407: Trauma and Recovery
ADC431: Fundamentals of Addiction Counseling (undergrad section of graduate course)
ADC432: Psychopharmacology of Addiction (undergrad section of graduate course)
ADC434: Family Counseling and Addiction (undergrad section of graduate course)
ADC435: Trauma and Crisis Counseling (undergrad section of graduate course)
Students must select one concentration. Students may also select a Diversified Concentration where they can choose any combination of concentration courses to create their own custom concentration.
For help developing a degree plan you can watch the video
How to Determine What Courses You Need to Graduate
and follow the instructions in our
Degree Completion Plan Template
Course Competency Map
Ministry & Interpersonal Competencies
ORG431: Leadership in Diverse and Under-Resourced Communities
ORG430: Organizational Behavior: Developing Healthy Organizations (undergrad section of graduate course)
ORG303: Cross-Cultural Management & Ministry
ORG301: Nonprofit Human Resources
MIN411: New Testament Survey (undergraduate section of graduate course)
MIN305: Christian Community Development and the Social Justice Tradition
MIN205/BUS203: Customer Service, Radical Hospitality & Trauma Informed Ministry
MIN203: Urban Youth Ministry
MIN101: Vocation, Calling & Purpose of Work
GEN110: Holistic Personal Health and Spirituality
BUS202: Introduction to Management and Leadership
ADC440: Christian Approaches to Counseling and Life Transformation (undergrad section of graduate course)
Operations & Governance Competencies
BUS201: Introduction to Accounting
BUS402: Project Management (undergrad section of graduate course)
ORG401: Nonprofit Financial Accounting
ORG402: Nonprofit Managerial Accounting
ORG435: Nonprofit Financial Management (undergrad section of graduate course)
Innovation & Entrepreneurial Competencies
BUS301: Introduction to Entrepreneurship
BUS302: Retail Management
BUS303: Food Service Management
BUS304: Thrift Store Management
BUS305: Facilities Management
ORG101: Introduction to Nonprofit & Ministry Management (take early in program)
ORG302: Social Entrepreneurship
ORG437: Nonprofit Program Planning and Evaluation
Business & Funding Competencies
BUS204: Principles of Business
BUS401: Marketing for Nonprofits and Businesses (undergrad section of graduate course)
GEN103: Personal Finance (using Financial Peace)
ORG403: Nonprofit Fundraising
ORG405: Volunteer Management
ORG433: Grant Writing (undergraduate section of graduate course)
ORG436: Nonprofit Executive Leadership & Board Development (undergrad section of graduate course)
ORG439: Major Gifts and Planned Giving
Each of our courses map the above competency domains that relate to the Management Skills Assessment Instrument/Competing Values Framework. Students can use this framework to develop custom competency maps for their degree plan based on their goals. Relative to our other degrees, this degree emphasizes the Ministry & Interpersonal Competencies more.
Degree Outcomes
Degree outcomes are the overall skills and knowledge we expect you will have after successfully completing a degree program at City Vision University.  After completing the degree, you will be able to do the following in each of the listed domains:
Bible/Theology
Bible.
Use sound principles of Biblical interpretation to analyze the structure, themes and content of the Bible and apply that to local contexts.
Theology.
Apply the foundational truths of Christian theology grounded in Scripture to local contexts.
Spiritual Formation
Calling.
Create a synthesis of a reflective life vision and plan to enable 24/7 ministry based on God’s purposes for work and their own unique calling.
Leadership.
Develop a personal philosophy and plan for leadership based on principles of leadership and effective ministry management.
Emotional Health.
Reflect and develop plans needed to establish healthy relationships and life balance.
Ministry & Missions
Cross-Cultural Ministry.
Develop strategy for effective cross-cultural management and ministry and apply that to their own organizational or ministry context.
Nonprofit Foundations.
Describe the key competencies of effective nonprofit managers and develop a career development plan across four competency domains including: Collaborate (HR & Relational Skills), Control (Governance, Financial & Operations Skills), Create (Innovation & Entrepreneurial Skills) and Compete (Business & Funding Skills).
Specialization.
Develop skills and apply learning and concepts in one area of specialty ministry.
What Makes Our Christian Ministry & Leadership Program Unique?
Bachelor's Degree in Christian Ministry and Leadership: Information and Requirements
Job Opportunities
Admissions Requirements
Graduation Requirements
Degree Outcomes
Job Opportunities
Our degree will prepare you to be a leader in a parachurch ministry,  nonprofit, urban ministry or urban mission.
More than 70% of our graduates have worked in the nonprofit or ministry sector after graduation.
Others often work in businesses with values that reflect strong social responsibility and entrepreneurship.
Admissions Requirements
You can
apply for free now
. You must submit the following:
A copy, scan or photo of a high school diploma, GED or equivalent.
A copy, scan or photo of a government-issued photo ID.
For more information read our
admissions instructions
and
standards of admission
Graduation Requirements
To graduate, students must:
Complete 120 credits with at least 30 credits from City Vision.
Complete all major core requirements, concentration courses (listed above) and
general education requirements
Have a cumulative GPA of at least 2.0 (including City Vision credits and accepted transfer credits).
Video: How to Determine What Courses You Need to Graduate
Degree Outcomes
Degree outcomes are the overall skills and knowledge we expect you will have after successfully completing a certificate or degree program at City Vision University.  After completing the degree, you will be able to do the following:
Bible/Theology
Bible. Use sound principles of Biblical interpretation to analyze the structure, themes and content of the Bible and apply that to local contexts.
Theology. Apply the foundational truths of Christian theology grounded in Scripture to local contexts.
Spiritual Formation
Calling. Create a synthesis of a reflective life vision and plan to enable 24/7 ministry based on God’s purposes for work and their own unique calling.
Leadership. Develop a personal philosophy and plan for leadership based on principles of leadership and effective ministry management.
Life Balance. Develop plan for him/herself and others to establish life balance in a society saturated with technology and addiction.
Ministry & Missions
Cross-Cultural Ministry. Develop strategy for effective cross-cultural management and ministry and apply that to their own organizational or ministry context. (BA only)
Specialization. Develop skills and apply learning and concepts in one area of specialty ministry.
Which City Vision Degree is Right for You?
Associate's Degrees
Addiction Counseling
Nonprofit Management
Business Administration
Ministry & Leadership
800
Per
Course
60 credits, 2 years
$8,000 per year (full-time)
7 required core courses
Up to 45 transfer credits
Pell Grant Eligible
Bachelor's Degrees
Addiction Counseling
Nonprofit Management
Business Administration
Ministry & Leadership
800
Per
Course
120 credits, 4 years
$8,000 per year (full-time)
10-12 required core courses
Up to 90 transfer credits
Pell Grant Eligible
Popular
Master's Degrees
Addiction Counseling
Nonprofit Management
MBA
Ministry & Leadership
800
Per
Course
MBA & MSADC: 36 credits, 1.25 yr
MSNM & MACML: 30 credits, 1 year
$8,000 per year (full-time)
Up to 25% as transfer credit
Undergraduate Certificates
(6 courses, 8 months):
Addiction Counseling
Nonprofit Management
Business
Ministry
Nonprofit Fundraising
Food Service Management
Retail Management
Facilities Management
Recovery Coaching
Graduate Certificates
(4 courses, 5 months):
Addiction Counseling
Nonprofit Management
, Ministry
Nonprofit Fundraising
Our History with Urban Missions and Ministries
Ministry Partners in the Past
Full-time Interns Placed in Urban Ministries
Ministries Sending Students to City Vision
1998
City Vision founded as the education arm of
the Association of Gospel Rescue Missions
called Rescue College.
1998
2005
Rescue College is accredited by the Distance Education Accrediting Commission with a degree completion program in Missions.
2005
2008
Rescue College becomes a part of the
Christian nonprofit TechMission
and is renamed City Vision College.
2008
2015
City Vision College starts offering graduate programs and becomes City Vision University.
2015
2019
City Vision celebrates serving students and
interns from over 500 urban ministries.
2019
Why Choose Our Bachelor's Degree in Christian Ministry and Leadership?
Founded by Nonprofits for Nonprofits
City Vision is an accredited nonprofit Christian university.
Since 1998, we have partnered with thousands of ministries serving the poor and other nonprofits.
Nearly all our faculty have at least master's degrees, and have decades of experience in their fields.
Nearly all our faculty work at ministries, nonprofits, or Christian counseling centers.
You will learn exactly what you need to do on the job in our project-based courses.
Flexible Admissions & Transfer Credit Process
We accept any undergraduate student with a high school diploma, GED, or equivalent.
No standardized tests (SAT, ACT, etc.) are required to enroll.
You can transfer up to 75% of your degree from any accredited college (undergraduates), or 25% for graduate students.
We provide the most flexible, streamlined process to get prior learning experience credits of any online Christian university.
You can transfer credits from any accredited school, in any country.
Transfer credits can be in any field (including vocational fields).
Accreditation
We are
accredited by the Distance Education Accrediting Commission
, which is listed by the U.S. Department of Education as a recognized accrediting agency.
We are an
Approved Provider for NAADAC
, which allows us to provide an educational path to addiction counseling certification in
most states
Flexible Online Courses
With our
8-week format
and
5 start dates
per year, you can study on your schedule in
100% online courses
. You
never have to travel
to a physical campus.
Our online courses are like live courses but instead of live lectures, most are recorded. Instead of live discussion, you have discussion forums with other students.
Radically Affordable so You Can Graduate Without Federal Loans
Tuition is $800 per course ($8,000/year full-time) for both undergraduate and graduate courses.
Qualifying students may use Pell grants and Veteran's benefits to help pay for school. Over 79% of our students that apply get a Pell grant.
We provide a 10% tuition scholarship to
veterans/military
rescue mission
and
Salvation Army
workers, and a $250/course tuition scholarship for students outside the US, ministry partners and ministry interns.
Read Stories of our Recent Christian Ministry Program Graduates
Terresa Wood, AA in Christian Ministry & Leadership
Meet Terresa Wood — a shining light at the Rescue Mission Women’s Center in Salt Lake City, Utah. Terresa’s journey is one of transformation, resilience, and the power of God’s grace. “I thought the rest of my life would be spent on the streets,” Terresa shares. For four years, she faced homelessness and addiction, believing that was all life had left for her. But God had a bigger plan. After graduating from the Rescue Mission’s program seven years ago, Terresa was hired as the house manager — a role that ignited a passion for serving others walking a similar path.…
Read More...
Michael Schoettle, MA in Christian Ministry & Leadership
At the heart of the Topeka Rescue Mission, you’ll find a leader who has walked through valleys and come out the other side with a message of hope. Michael Schoettle, Director of Spiritual Wellness and Discipleship, is more than just a ministry professional—he’s a living testimony to perseverance, grace, and God’s timing. After starting a master’s degree years ago and putting it on hold due to life changes, Michael reignited his educational journey in 2023 after attending a City Vision University session at the Citygate conference. Drawn by CVU’s Christ-centered, flexible, and affordable approach, he enrolled in the Master’s in…
Read More...
Kyle Meyers, BA in Christian Ministry & Leadership
As Kyle Meyers prepares to graduate from City Vision University with a degree in Christian Ministry and Leadership, he reflects on a transformative journey that has shaped both his calling and his character. Despite being surrounded by several Christian universities in his area, Kyle was drawn to City Vision for one key reason: its focus on outreach ministry. Unlike traditional ministry programs centered around church leadership, City Vision’s hands-on, mission-oriented approach offered him exactly what he was looking for — preparation to serve in real-world ministry settings, outside the walls of the church. Kyle also emphasized the remarkable supportive culture…
Read More...
Reggie Quintana, BA in Christian Ministry & Leadership
For Reggie Quintana, a degree from City Vision University helped him to grow both in his faith and his ability to run a nonprofit. After spending five years in prison, Reggie rediscovered his faith in the Lord. Once he was released, he took care of his sick father and had extra time on his hands. He earned 32 college credits in Bible & theology from the Urban Ministry Institute (TUMI). Reggie wanted to complete a bachelor’s degree but when he tried colleges after TUMI, he found them expensive and difficult to understand.  That's when a friend introduced him to City…
Read More...
Adam Beretta, BA in Christian Ministry & Leadership
Adam Beretta had taken a long break from school, but wanted to advance in his career. He was looking for an affordable, Christ-based education. He heard about City Vision through his work at Wheeler Mission. His colleagues recommended the school - some even worked for City Vision now. Adam was looking for a degree so he could advance in his career. He found City Vision's faculty and support second to none. Online classes were easy to navigate, and the professors were always willing to accept feedback. Even though City Vision is an online school, Adam found a deep, God-centered community. His…
Read More...
Mira Alfy, Grad Certificate in Christian Ministry
Mira Alfy finished her certificate in Christian Ministry with City Vision through the EMI Fellowship program. She appreciated the encouraging professors who gave helpful feedback. City Vision offered a wide range of classes from leadership to theology and cross-cultural ministry. She recommends these to anyone looking for a similar certificate. Graduating from City Vision provided Mira with knowledge about how to minister in the church. Now she has the skills to mentor younger professionals. She hopes to help them grow in their faith.
Read More...
Antonio Rafael, Grad Certificate in Christian Ministry
Antonio Rafael came from a Christian family and came to Christ at an early age. He always wanted to serve God but felt ill-equipped as to how to go about it. Then he became part of the fellowship program through EMI (Engineering Ministries International). This included getting a Graduate Certificate in Christian Ministry from City Vision. Studying at City Vision was empowering for him. It helped him learn more of what his faith actually is about and how God relates to us. Now he is way more confident when he speaks to people about the truths of his faith. Antonio…
Read More...
Scott Childress, AAS in Christian Ministry
Scott Childress earned his Associate's in Christian Ministry & Leadership from City Vision University and went on to pursue a Bachelor's in Addiction Counseling. He recently shared his testimony in the newsletter of our partner ministry, Place of Promise: "I started using alcohol, drugs, and heroin in my teens. Soon, I was using daily, and, for many years, I was able to successfully “manage” my drug addictions. After moving to Boston, I worked at a bookstore and then entered the music industry. Eventually I became the district manager of a Downtown Crossing record store. By then, I was using $300…
Read More...
We Specialize in Credit for Prior Learning Experience
City Vision offers what we believe is the most flexible, streamlined process to get prior learning experience credits of any online Christian university. We view City Vision as a Christian counterpart of secular schools that specialize in granting prior learning credit. We focus on this because we often teach leaders with decades of senior experience in the nonprofit and business world who operate at a practical experience level of someone with an MBA, but they do not have any degree.
What You Can Get Credit For
Experience and prior learning credit for up to 25% of your degree
Credit by examination from ACE, AP, CLEP, DANTES, Excelsior, TECEP, and NCCR.
Military, corporate and ministry training.
Unaccredited courses like CEUs and MOOCs (edX & Coursera).
Certifications, licenses and ordination or other prior learning or experience.
How Prior Learning Credit Works
Take City Vision’s
Prior Learning Assessment course
to have up to 30 credits evaluated (for Bachelor’s students).
Develop a portfolio documenting your experiential learning.
Our faculty evaluate your credit, comparing your documentation to learning outcomes of accredited courses.
The credit will be added to your transcript if it is granted,
so you can finish your degree more quickly.
Awards & Recognition
You Work to Transform Lives - Let Us Be a Guide
Like us, you work to transform lives. But some people you serve may appear stuck in dysfunction. You may feel over your head, like no one trained you for this. The needs seem endless, and you want to be more effective.
You know you need training to serve well, but you don’t have the time to stop working to get trained. City Vision’s flexible online programs allow you to balance work, family, and the rest of your life.
You deserve an affordable, flexible degree so you can help move your nonprofit to profound success. We want our students to know they are making a difference.
You may feel like your current position is an accident. But there are no accidents in God’s plan. Study with City Vision, clarify your calling, and be equipped to transform more lives than you’ve imagined.
Frequently Asked Questions
How can I get prior learning credit for experience?
To get credit for experience, first take City Vision’s Prior Learning Assessment Portfolio Development course, which uses the CAEL portfolio process. In this course you will develop a portfolio of your learning experience using a template we provide. For each subject area where you believe you should receive credit, you must identify a course at an accredited institution where you believe that you have already mastered the learning outcomes for that course. For each course that you want to receive credit for, you need to develop a specific portfolio section where you provide several pages of documentation on how you have achieved the learning outcomes of the course. A faculty member then reviews your portfolio to assess whether you have provided adequate documentation to be granted credit.
After completing this eight-week course, you will get 3 elective credits toward your degree plus the credits for any courses where you documented that you met the course outcomes through your portfolio. You have up to 3 months to submit the rest of your portfolio to get credit for additional courses where you can document learning. After the three months, you can pay $100 to have additional sections of your portfolio reviewed. Undergraduate students can receive credit for up to 25% of their degree through prior learning (30 credits for a bachelor’s or 15 credits for an associate’s) and graduate students can receive credit for up to 25% of their degree (9 credits for an MBA).
We have credit recognition partnerships with
Wheeler Mission
The Urban Ministry Institute (TUMI)
Third Millennium
Saylor Academy
Vision International
Harvestime Institute
Genesis Process
and
YWAM’s University of the Nations
. If you are with an organization that would like to set up a Credit Recognition Partnership, please contact us.
Do you offer scholarships for military, rescue missions, Salvation Army or international students?
For the 2025-26 year, we offer the following tuition scholarships:
10% Tuition Scholarship:
to City Vision alumni, those affiliated with
rescue missions,
the
Salvation Army
The Urban Ministry Institute (TUMI)
, CCDA,
YWAM
Adult and Teen Challenge
Third Millennium,
AmeriCorps
first responders
, organizations affiliated with the Tuition Reduction Network, as well as
active duty or reserve military students or veterans
and their spouses. After this scholarship, tuition is $720/course or $240/credit hour (for both undergraduate and graduate programs).
Scholarship Partner: $250 per 3 credit course.
We offer this scholarship to students outside of the US.
We will offer this level of scholarship to students from any organization that sends two or more students in a given year
, and meets the
partnership expectations
For these students, undergrad and masters tuition is
$550/course
($5,500/year, $183.33/credit hour) for both undergraduate and graduate tuition.
Here are the steps to request a scholarship:
New Students Only:
Fill out a
free enrollment application
. If you have already applied to the school, don’t do this again.
All Students:
Email the financial aid office at
financialaid@cityvision.edu
to say which scholarship you are requesting. There is not a form for requesting scholarships.
The financial aid office will contact you if we need documentation to verify you are eligible for a scholarship.
Be sure to read our
criteria to keep scholarships.
How can my organization partner with City Vision for scholarships or evaluation of ministry training for credit?
City Vision offers two types of
partnerships with organizations
Multi-Student Organizational Discounts
. We offer a scholarship to students from any organization that refers multiple students to City Vision in a given year. The scholarship makes tuition $5,500 ($550/course) for both undergraduate and graduate programs. If an organization does not have more than one student for at least a year, that organization loses its scholarship status. If you are with an organization that would like to receive this discount, please contact us.
Credit Mapping Partnerships.
City Vision sets up credit mapping articulation agreements with ministries that have high-quality ministry training that can be evaluated through our prior learning assessment process. We have credit mapping partnerships with
Wheeler Mission
The Urban Ministry Institute (TUMI)
Third Millennium
Saylor Academy
and
YWAM’s University of the Nations
, among others, that work in conjunction with our prior learning process. If you are with an organization that would like to set up a Credit Mapping Partnership, please contact us.
Do you have a program to work with my employer’s tuition assistance or reimbursement program?
Yes. City Vision has worked with many employers that offer tuition assistance or reimbursement.
For students whose employer will pay their full tuition, we can work with you to send your tuition invoice to your employer for them to pay directly.
For students that pay their own tuition and need reimbursement with their employer, we provide the invoices and documentation you need to get reimbursed.
Why would I choose City Vision over a community college or state school?
City Vision believes we are among the best in the world in providing an extremely practical Christian education for those interested in Addiction Counseling and Nonprofit Management.
While state schools can provide information about counseling, City Vision will provide very practical counseling education with deep Christian integration. Similarly many state schools’ nonprofit management programs are often essentially generic business degrees, while we help our students integrate their Christian values in how they run nonprofit organizations and businesses.
Many community colleges or state schools will advertise “free” or nearly free tuition. Historically, for City Vision students that have applied for a Pell grant, 79% have qualified. For students that receive a full Pell grant, the grant will pay all your tuition making the cost to the student only the cost of books (which is similar to many community colleges or state schools).
Why would I choose City Vision over Christian mega-universities like Liberty or Grand Canyon?
City Vision is very focused on providing extremely practical Christian education for those interested in Addiction Counseling and Nonprofit Management. City Vision offers fewer degrees than the mega-universities, but the degrees that we do, we do very well. We like to think of ourselves similar to the family-run hardware store where staff can answer all your questions with personalized service as opposed to the big box department stores like Walmart that offer everything.
Liberty and Grand Canyon are fine schools if they are what you are looking for, but we believe we are superior for students seeking an affordable, practical education in what we teach. The following shows how we believe our strengths compare to those of Liberty and Grand Canyon:
City Vision
Liberty/Grand Canyon
Cost/Tuition
$8,000 per year
$12,198/$15,725 per year
Core Competencies
Nonprofit Management & Addiction Counseling degrees, with personalized service and practical training
Hundreds of degrees, convenience that comes from scale of 100,000+ students
History/Culture
20+ year history of serving the poor, addicted and underserved, including partnerships with rescue missions and Salvation Army
Liberty was founded by Jerry Falwell.
Grand Canyon was a for-profit school.
Speed to Degree
Extremely flexible acceptance of transfer credit and prior learning credit
Somewhat flexible transfer credit.
Student Recruitment
Primarily word of mouth and partnerships with 90+ rescue missions, Salvation Army, counseling centers, 500+ nonprofits and urban ministries
$100 million+ advertising campaigns
What graduate schools have your students been accepted into and how is City Vision's degree typically received?
We have never had a student who wasn’t accepted into a graduate program based on our degrees, although in some cases with state schools we have had to advocate for them.
Our alumni have been accepted into the following schools: Grand Canyon University, Bay Path University, Southwest Baptist Seminary, Fuller Seminary, California University of Pennsylvania, James Madison University, Liberty University, North Park University, Southern New Hampshire University, St Mary’s University of Twickenham, Trinity Bible College, Bakke Graduate School and AG Theological Seminary.
Ultimately the acceptance of any degree or transfer credit is up to the receiving institution.
What is the difference between Regional and National Accreditation and how has that affected your alumni?
City Vision is nationally accredited by the Distance Education Accrediting Commission (DEAC), which is recognized by the US Department of Education and CHEA. The US Department of Education does not recognize a distinction between regional and national accreditation in its standards and recently stated, “The Department does not believe…that rejecting transfer credits, an application for admission to graduate school, or a request to sit for a State occupational licensing exam on the basis of the type of Department recognized accreditation is justified.” See the
US Department of Education letter on National vs. Regional Accreditation
We have heard from a number of our students that other schools (sadly, even Christian schools) use scare tactics as a part of their sales practice, and misrepresent the significance of the distinction between national and regional accreditation.
From a Christian social justice perspective, many have called the distinction between regional and national accreditation a
cartel that is a major injustice that hurts the poor
.  Having said that, there are those that still maintain this distinction, so we address their concerns in this section. This
letter from Dr. Leah Matthews
addresses some concerns about the quality of DEAC accreditation.
Functionally, our experience has been that the distinction between regional and national accreditation is primarily of importance for:
Student pursuing academic careers, since many high-end schools may require Ph.D.’s from regionally accredited schools. A very small percentage of jobs (mostly academic) require regional accreditation.  For example, a recent search of jobs in Boston showed
19 jobs
out of 65,645 total requiring regional accreditation (of which 18 were in academic institutions).
Students pursuing licensing in fields that often require a master’s degree from a regionally accredited school, such as Counseling or Social Work. It is because of this reason that City Vision does not offer master’s programs in these fields. As listed above, regional master’s programs to date have always accepted our bachelor’s degrees, but the decision is up to each individual school.
Students planning to complete their bachelor’s degree at other schools. Many state schools and some CCCU schools may not accept transfer credits from nationally accredited schools. It is up to each school on what transfer credits they accept. Based on this, for students that come to City Vision that do not plan to complete either their associate’s or bachelor’s with us, but expect to complete at a state university or CCCU school, we recommend that they first check with that school on credit transferability.
Ultimately, choosing City Vision’s national accreditation over a regionally accredited school is a question of value: you get more for your money with City Vision. If you need the “gold plating” of regional accreditation for one of the reasons described above, then it may be worth paying 2-10 times more to get a degree with regional accreditation from another school. However, because of the career choices of our students, they prefer to choose the value of City Vision rather than more expensive high-end options.
What portion of your alumni work in the nonprofit or ministry sector after graduation?
Historically, 70-80% of our alumni work in the nonprofit or ministry sector after graduation.
The others work in business with strong values that reflect strong social responsibility, Christian values and entrepreneurship.
We have had hundreds of students that have come from over 90 Gospel rescue missions.
Read Stories of City Vision Alumni
See job statistics of 200+ Alumni / students on LinkedIn
Request Information
Apply Now
Request Information