I completed seminary from a B.A. to a PhD with zero debt while making $32,000-$45,000, and my wife stayed home with our four children. I pastored full time.
How did we do it?
1. Out of high school, I had an “academic” scholarship to
@roanestate. I think they gave free tuition to the top 50 students in my graduating class? I was in the top 40’s and squeaked in. I went there a year, then transferred to
@TrinitySeminary. My mom said she’d pay for my bachelor’s if I went. I also worked.
2. For my Master’s, Liberty Seminary was giving away free tuition for 1 staff member at your church if your church gave towards their missions. My church did and I received free tuition for a 60 hour M.A.R. in Biblical Studies. (Liberty no longer offers this scholarship.)
3. Then, I pursued an M.Div. at
@SBTS. I received 1/2 off of tuition because I was a member of an SBC church. For the rest,
@SBTS permitted me to make payments with zero interest each semester. My family did without and we made payments. I drove two hours one way to seminary 1-2 days a week. And did week-long intensive courses during the summer and winter. My brother-in-law, who was a student at
@SBTS, let me stay with him and his wife on campus for free during intensives.
4. Finally, I applied for the PhD program
@SBTS. They rejected me twice but admitted me to the ThM program. So, I worked on a ThM and kept applying for the PhD program. I took the G.R.E. twice and raised my scores the second time. I also applied and got accepted to
@WestminsterTS’s PhD program. I took my acceptance there, my GRE scores, and a year of my ThM work into my
@SBTS interview, and got accepted into the PhD program in Systematic Theology. Most of my ThM work transferred into the PhD. I received 1/2 off of tuition due to being a member of an SBC church. For the rest of the tuition,
@SBTS required a $1,000 down payment and then split the rest into 48 payments with zero interest. I graduated in 2019 with a PhD in Systematic Theology with a minor in American Church History, and zero debt.
Walking out of seminary without any debt was a result of God’s grace through His people, and my family’s willingness to do without. I’m grateful for my mom’s and dad’s provision, the grace of my brother-in-law and sister-in-law, the grace of the Southern Baptist churches I served, the grace of
@LibertyU and
@SBTS, and the grace of my wife who never complained about being poor for more than a decade, so I could finish seminary.
With the grace of God’s people and a willingness to do without, you too can graduate from seminary debt free with a PhD!