The Association of Theological Schools (ATS) recently convened a meeting of the participants in the Economic Challenges Facing Future Ministers project (ECFFM). ECFFM is aimed at addressing student debt in theological education, and Greg Henson, president of Sioux Falls Seminary, shared a presentation at the event. He's since published his presentation on his blog.
Though Henson's presentation doesn't include sound, I gained some great insights by simply reading the presentation as it progresses. Here are the two slides that struck me as especially important:
- Students who attend for free can still borrow $20,500. “We have created a pathway where even students receiving 100% tuition scholarship are able to borrow $20,500 each year.”
- Rising credit = rising tuition. For every $1 increase in loan availability (credit supply), tuition rose by 63 cents.
Read Henson's full post here.
Funded by Lilly Endowment Inc., the Economic Challenges Facing Future Ministers (ECFFM) initiative began in 2012 and is supporting projects at 67 ATS member schools. The project include research into financial issues facing students, development of new strategies for decreasing financial burdens on students, creation and strengthening of educational programs in financial literacy for pastoral leaders, and the creation of new partnerships to address these issues.
Even schools that are not ECFFM participants can benefit from the project. ATS has made dozens of resources available, including data and reports, student debt strategies, and financial literacy programs. Many of these resources come directly from project participants and contain valuable information that you can put into practice at your school. You can access the resources here.
Other readings and resources on student debt in theological education
- 67 theological schools share strategies for reducing student debt. An article from ATS regarding the ECFFM project.
- Rising student debt. In Trust's most recent article on the problem of student debt uses recent data from ATS' Graduating Student Questionnaire (GSQ) to shed light on this issue.
- Taming the tempest: A team approach to reducing and managing student debt. The Auburn Center for the Study of Theological Education's 2014 report on student debt.
- In Trust Center Resource Consulting. Our Resource Consulting team can connect you with further resources on this topic, including peer schools, expert consultants, and further readings and reports. Resource Consulting is free for member schools. Contact our Resource Consultants at 302-654-7770 or resources@intrust.org.
Links in this post:
- “Operational and educational models in theological education“
- Economic Challenges Facing Future Ministers initiative
- “67 theological schools share strategies for reducing student debt”
- “Rising student debt”
- “Taming the tempest: A team approach to reducing and managing student debt”
Image credit (ladder): Miguel Virkkunen Carvalho.
