Redemption Seminary is still a young school and since it caters to non-traditional part-time students (working adults), it will take more time to get statistically significant data for degree program graduation rates. In the meantime, here are some statistics that describe the level of student achievement we are seeing at the seminary.
Graduation Rates
Graduation rate is the percentage of students who complete a program within 150% percent of its extended pace. Redemption uses the extended pace to define the normal time expected for completion. The extended pace is 1.5 years for the Certificate in Biblical Studies (CBS) and 5 years for the Master of Arts in Biblical Studies (MABS).
Redemption Seminary enrolled its first students in 2020, and graduated its first students in 2022 (1 CBS and 6 MABS):
Master’s Program
Of the 34 students who enrolled in the 2020 MABS cohort by Dec. 31st of 2020, 32% (11 students) have graduated within 3 years (as of Dec. 31, 2023).
Masters Program Graduation Rate: TBD. The standard graduation rate cannot be calculated since insufficient time has elapsed since the enrollment of the first cohort of students in 2020.
Benchmark (Minimum Target): 54% of Master’s degree students will graduate within 7.5 years
Certificate Program
CBS Graduation Rate: 100%
(1 student, graduated within 1 year)
Benchmark (Minimum Target): 60% of Certificate students will graduate within 2.25 years
RETENTION RATES
Retention rate is the percentage of students admitted in a given year who remain enrolled the following year. A similar term is “persistence.” While retention describes whether the institution retains students for a second year, persistence describes students who persist in their studies, either at the same institution or by successfully transferring to another institution to continue their studies.
Overall Retention Rates by Year:
2020: 76%
2021: 87%
2022: 83%
2023: 88%
Persistence: A total of three (3) students have transferred out and continued their studies at other institutions prior to completing their program at Redemption (in addition to students who graduated from Redemption and enrolled in a second master’s degree program at Kairos University). These students were not counted as being retained in the retention rates reported above.
MINISTRY AND FURTHER EDUCATION
While Redemption Seminary does not claim to directly qualify or place students in specific occupations, a survey of recent graduates revealed the following statistics related to our goal that graduating students will be volunteering or employed in church/parachurch ministry:
82% (9 of 11 graduates currently serving in ministry)
(7 volunteering in church/parachurch, 4 employed full-time as a pastor/missionary in a church/parachurch, 1 authoring theological books while homeschooling)
Note: 6/11 were continuing their education
(N = 11, response rate = 85% of 2023 graduates)