Statement of Educational Effectiveness

BMATS Mission Statement
The purpose of the Seminary’s divisions of undergraduate and graduate studies is to provide accredited undergraduate and graduate theological education for equipping individuals for Christ-centered service and leadership roles; to support the educational needs of the churches and agencies of the Baptist Missionary Association of America and other groups who share a like commitment to the authority of Scripture; and to serve as a resource center for critical thought and research in a context which nurtures the historical, doctrinal character of the churches of the Baptist Missionary Association of America.

Accreditation

Baptist Missionary Association Theological Seminary is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC) to award associate, baccalaureate, and masters’ degrees. Questions about the accreditation of (name of member institution) may be directed in writing to the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges at 1866 Southern Lane, Decatur, GA 30033-4097, by calling (404) 679-4500, or by using information available on SACSCOC’s website (www.sacscoc.org).

The Commission on Accrediting of the Association of Theological Schools’ (ATS) Educational Standard 2.8 reads: “In the interests of public transparency, the school publishes a statement of educational effectiveness, giving evidence of educational quality by documenting appropriate areas of student achievement for each degree programs . . . “ SACSCOC also requires the school to publish similar data pertaining to student achievement per the U.S. Department of Education. The data included in this report attempt to make such a statement via direct and indirect measurements.

Graduation Rates

Summary of Actual Rates and Goals

BMA Seminary uses the IPEDS Graduation Rate (150% of normal time) as its SACSCOC Completion metric for measuring graduation rates. The table below presents BMA Seminary’s actual and target percentage goals for graduation from data available in December 2023. BMA Seminary Actual Graduation and Placement Rates and Goals

BMA Seminary Actual Graduation and Placement Rates and Goals

	Actual%	Target Goal %
Undergraduate Graduation Rates	40	45
Identified At-Risk Populations
Black	21	35
Women	25	35
Graduate Graduation Rates
MDIV	13	50
MA	70	70

Placement Rates (2020-2023)	94	90

*Sources for actual data include DOE College Scorecard (undergraduate rate); IPEDS Data Feedback Report (at-risk populations); Association of Theological Schools 2020-2023 Strategic Information Data and Institutional Peer Profile Report 2023 (graduate and placement rates).

Graduation Rates by Degree and Ecclesial Family for 2023

	BMATS	All ATS Schools	Evangelical Protestant	Mainline Protestant	Roman Catholic/Orthodox
MDIV	13%	56%	50%	64%	58%
MA	67%	50%	45	57%	53%

Data from ATS 2023 Strategic Information Report for BMA Seminary

BMA Seminary’s Enrollment and Completions by Race/Ethnicity and Gender (2014-2023)

	Asian	Black	Hispanic	White	Other	Male	Female
Enrollments	7%	22%	5%	58%	2%	84%	26%
Completions	8%	20%	4%	56%	1%	83%	17%

Data from ATS 2023 Strategic Information Report for BMA Seminary

BMA Seminary and Comparison Group Undergraduate Award and Enrollment Rates by Pell Status (2022)

Awarded In	4 Years		6 Years		8 Years		Still at School		At Another School
	BMA	Comparison Group	BMA	Comparison Group	BMA	Comparison Group	BMA	CG	BMA	CG
First-Time, Full-Time (Pell)	83%	33%	100%	44%	100%	44%	0%	0%	0%	5%
First-Time, Full-Time (Non Pell)	NA	44%	NA	48%	NA	50%	0%	0%	0%	0%
First-Time, Part-Time (Pell)	20%	9%	40%	33%	60%	33%	0%	0%	0%	0%
First-Time, Part-Time (Pell)	29%	20%	29%	40%	43%	40%	14%	0%	14%	0%

IPEDS Data Feedback Report (2022)

Placement Rates

Regarding Placement Rates

Faculty agreed that Placement Rates demonstrate considerable student achievement. Based upon data appearing in the ATS Institutional Peer Profile Report, a customized annual report based upon peer institutions identified by the BMA Seminary (approximately 10 similar institutions), BMA Seminary has an excellent Placement Rate for its graduates. Faculty consider 70% a minimally accepted threshold and the maintaining of at least 90% a criteria or target goal. These figures are based upon data collected from the ATS report.

Direct measurement of educational effectiveness includes placement upon graduation. The following data reflect the number of graduates from each degree earned from 2010-2020 and identifies ministerial/religious vocations held by students at the time of graduation, their admittance into further educational studies, or other positions not particularly related to a graduate’s field of study:

	Employed in Ministry	Pursing Further Education	Other
MDiv	56%	31%	13%
MACM	64%	24%	12%
MAR	75%	8%	17%
MAPT	64%	7%	29%
BAR	35%	39%	26%
ADiv	18%	76%	6%

The table shows that 94% of Associate of Divinity, 74% of Bachelor of Arts in Religion, 83% of Master of Arts (Religion), 88% of Master of Arts in Church Ministries, and 87% of Master of Divinity graduates from 2010-2020 entered the next level of academic study or held a vocational position related to their fields of study at the time of graduation.

The seminary expects that 80% of graduated students should be employed in ministry or pursuing further education. Also, BMA Seminary’s minimal expectation is to maintain placement rates within 10% of the overall ATS placement rates as revealed by the Strategic Information Report.

Field Supervision
Master of Arts in Church Ministries and Master of Divinity students must complete a semester of supervised field ministry. Field supervisors for the supervised ministry course evaluate students based upon their guided interaction with students and their professional opinions. The experience guides supervisors and students to address items directly related to degree program outcomes and course learning objectives. Supervisors provide written comments and rate students with the following scale: 1=Strongly Disagree 2=Disagree 3=Sometimes 4=Agree 5=Strongly Agree NA=Not Applicable. The seminary’s minimal expectation is that supervisors will rate 80 percent of students at a 4 or higher (on a scale of 1-5) for their abilities to function professionally in ministerial leadership.

Data collected from 2013-18 for MACM and from 2017-19 for MDIV showed that field supervisors rated MACM and MDIV graduates an average of 4.6 (92%) within a range of 4.00-5.00. Field supervisors also listed these strengths of graduates: dedication, leadership skills, people skills, teaching and research, doctrine, theological convictions, commitment to authority of scripture, preaching scripture, heartfelt convictions, strong character, and ability to teach.

Third-party ministry professionals serving as field supervisors strongly agree that BMA Seminary MACM and MDIV graduates have obtained the desired program outcomes of each degree.

Graduate Evaluations
As an indirect measure of learning, graduation questionnaires revealed that graduates were very satisfied with how their program of study enhanced their Christian ministry. Graduates rated their increase in knowledge on a scale of 1 to 5. Master of Divinity graduates (2014-2020) rated their increased knowledge at 4.4 across all degree objectives. Master of Arts in Christian Ministry graduates (2015-20) rated their increased knowledge at 4.5 across all degree objectives. Master of Arts (Religion) graduates (2018-2020) and Master of Arts (Pastoral Theology) graduates (2020) rated their increased knowledge at 4.3 across all degree objectives. Graduates in the Bachelor of Arts in Religion *2018-20) rated their increased knowledge at 4.6 across all degree objectives. Associate of Divinity graduates (2018-20) rated their increased knowledge at 4.5 across all degree objectives.

Rational for Educational Effectiveness

For more detail regarding BMA Seminary’s Rationale for Educational Effectiveness is available with the attached link.