Advanced Certificate Rules

1. What the Advanced Certificate is

Berean Institutes is an independent, unaccredited institution. It awards Advanced Certificates of verified competency, not degrees. A certificate represents rigorous academic mastery and deep study, not a state-recognized degree or professional vocational credential.

Berean offers four Advanced Certificate programs: Early Christianity, Advanced Biblical Research, Biblical Exegesis, and Black Hebrew Israelite Theology.

2. Admission

• You must be 18 years of age or older.
• You complete the program application and the reading and writing assessment. Most programs require no previous degree.
• Advanced research tracks have prerequisites. Applicants who have not yet completed them may be conditionally accepted and begin their studies while completing them.

3. Requirements to earn the certificate

• Complete every required course listed on your program page.
• Earn a grade of C or better in each required course.
• Finish with a cumulative grade point average of at least 2.0.
• Meet the Academic Integrity and Student Conduct policies.

Final course grades are A (90–100%, 4.0 points), B (80–less than 90%, 3.0), C (70–less than 80%, 2.0), D (60–less than 70%, 1.0), or F (below 60%, 0.0). Berean does not use plus/minus grades. To complete a program, earn C or better in each required course and maintain a cumulative GPA of at least 2.0. GPA equals total grade points multiplied by each course’s credits, divided by total graded credits. A displayed rounded GPA does not change the underlying completion decision.

4. Transfer credit

Coursework completed at another institution may satisfy up to one-third of a certificate program. Submit your transcripts with your application, and admissions will confirm which courses apply. At least two-thirds of your program must be completed at Berean Institutes.

5. Study options and time limit

Program cohorts begin three times each year, in fall, spring, and summer. Most students join a scheduled cohort. The self-paced track lets you complete coursework and assessments on a flexible timeline without weekly deadlines.

Plan for 6 to 8 hours of study each week. On either track, complete your program within three years of your first course.

Program-specific completion rules take precedence: the PhD in Biblical Research has a seven-year maximum; Biblical Exegesis’s self-paced option has no fixed maximum. See each program’s published policy for its pace and completion requirements.

6. Repeating a course

You may repeat a required course in which you earned below a C. The later grade replaces the earlier one in your grade point average.

7. Academic standing

• If your cumulative grade point average falls below 2.0, you are placed on academic probation for your next term.
• If it is still below 2.0 at the end of that term, you may be dismissed from the program.

8. Leave and withdrawal

• You may take a leave of up to one year. Tell admissions before your leave begins.
• If you take no course for more than one year without an approved leave, you must apply again to continue.
• To withdraw from the program, contact admissions in writing.

9. Receiving your certificate

When the grade for your last required course is posted and you have met every requirement, your certificate is issued on its own. It appears on Your records with its verification link.

10. Verification and transcripts

Each certificate carries an identifier that leads to its public verification record. The record states your name, the credential, the completion and issue dates, and whether the certificate is valid, so an employer can confirm it.

To request an official transcript, use Your records, or the Contact page if you cannot sign in.

11. Using the certificate elsewhere

Berean Institutes does not award degrees. Whether another institution accepts Berean coursework toward its own programs is that institution's decision.