Admission

CCEF's School of Biblical Counseling welcomes any applicant who desires course work designed to enhance his or her practice of biblical counseling. CCEF does not discriminate with regard to an applicant's gender, race, national or religious background.

Application and Course Registration

You may apply to CCEF and register for courses by clicking on Register Now.

Tuition

Tuition is the same for both certitifcate programs.

To take courses for credit the cost is as follows:

• $480 for a 3 credit class
• $320 for a 2 credit class

To take courses as an auditor the cost is as follows:

• $240 for a 3 credit class
• $160 for a 2 credit class

Tuition payments are due:

• On-Site class tuition is due one week prior to the first class.
• Distance Education tuition is due the 15th of the month prior to your class start date.

Additional fees for Distance Education: In addition to tuition, Distance Education students pay for course materials, including the digital recordings (mp3 files) of all the lecture material for the course(s) ($70 per course) and supplemental downloadable materials the course(s) ($20 per course). Course materials vary based on what books and articles are assigned by the lecturing professor. Shipping and handling and any applicable sales tax will also be charged for course books. These fees are non-refundable.

Auditing

Students may take any of our classes except Counseling Observation and Essential Qualities of a Biblical Counselor as an auditing student. Tuition is aproximately one half of that paid for credit.

If you desire to take for credit a class you have previously audited, you may do so and only pay the additional tuition - if you retake the class by its next offering. If the course is not retaken by its next offering, then the student would be required to pay the full tuition cost.

If you desire to switch a course you are currently enrolled in for credit to audit, you may receive a full refund of the tuition difference if you switch within two weeks of the class start date. If you switch 2-4 weeks into class, you will receive a refund of 50% of the tuition difference. After five weeks, no refund will be issued.

For On-Site students: Auditing students are not to submit any papers for grading or take any exams.

For Distance Education students: Auditing students are not to submit assignments but are simply a listener to the class lectures. You have access to the recitation instructor if you have any questions about the material and the other students in your class via the online community board.

Tuition Refunds

In the event that you need to withdraw from a class, our tuition refund policy is defined below. There is a $50 non-refundable administrative fee for processing the withdrawal.

*The administrative fee of $50 per class is deducted from the tuition charge before the refund computation is made. Tuition for Counseling Observation classes is not refundable due to limited class size.

*The administrative fee of $50 per class is deducted from the tuition charge before the refund computation is made.

Certificate Levels and Related Policies

CCEF awards three levels of certificates:

• Introduction to Biblical Counseling (Level I)
• Advanced counseling Certificate (Level II)
• Counseling Apologetics Certificate (Level III)

Order of Study

Students must complete a Level I certificate before they can receive a Level II or III certificate - except under special circumstances. However, students are permitted to take Level II and III classes without earning a Level I certificate first.

Students may earn the Level III certificate without earning the Level II certificate.

Awarding of Certitifcates

After you have completed the required courses for a certificate, you will be notified that you have completed the requirements for that level and earned a Certificate. On-Site Certificates are mailed out once a year in the summer.  Distance Education Certificates are mailed out twice a year, in the spring and fall.

Scholarships & Financial Aid

We do not offer scholarships or financial aid at this time. We are a non-profit organization and are not eligible for grants or student aid. We suggest you seek support from your local church if you need help with tuition costs.

Tuition Discounts

CCEF offers the tuition discounts described below. Call Customer Service at 1.800.318.2186 to place discounted registration(s).

Family Unit - The second person in any family unit (spouse or parent/child) may take either the same course the first family member is currently enrolled in or a course the first family member has already taken for credit - for credit at the audit price. The family member has to have taken the course within the past year since our desire is to reduce expenses where two family members are students at the same time.

Seminary Spouse - The spouse of any full time seminary student may take any certificate course for credit at the audit price. (Except limited enrollment courses.)

Alumni

1. Anyone who has completed all the courses for a certificate level may audit any class from that level for free.
2. On- Site students may purchase the Distance Education materials (i.e., audio download and workbook) for classes that they have already taken for the cost that we sell them to the DE students. They will need to call Customer Service in order to facilitate this transaction, as it is not available through the website.
3. For the purpose of tuition discounts, alumni are defined as:
   • a. Certificate students
   • b. Westminster graduates
   • c. D. Min students

Local Churches - When three students from one church pay to take a class for credit, the church may have one audit seat at no cost or one for-credit student at the audit price for that course. In addition, if three paying students (any combination of credit/audit) from one church take a class simultaneously, the church may have one additional audit seat at no cost (but no additional “for-credit seat at the audit price”). Note: This is applicable for each group of 3 students. For example if one church sent 6 paying students for credit, they would get two additional audit seats at no cost or two for-credit seats at the audit price. Please contact customerservice@ccef.org for more information about this discount.

Transferring Credits from Other Institutions

Students may not substitute any of our courses with courses taken from any other institution to earn any level of certificate. They must take each certificate course from CCEF in order to earn that certificate. This is true for both On-Site and Distance Education programs.

Incomplete Requests

If extenuating circumstances (unusual and unavoidable circumstances which hinder completion of assigned work) prohibit the student from completing a course on time, a grade of Incomplete (INC) may be given.

To receive a grade of Incomplete a student must:

1) obtain an incomplete form from CCEF Registrar or Distance Education Administrator,

2) secure written approval on the form from the professor (for onsite) or recitation instructor (for distance education), and

3) return the form to the CCEF Registrar or Distance Education Administrator who will seek the appropriate approval.

Petition for the Incomplete must be made by November 30th for the on-site fall semester, April 30th for the on-site spring semester, or 1 month before the end of the class offering for Distance Education. At the professor/recitation instructor’s discretion the grade will or will not be reduced. If approval is granted, the work must be completed within four weeks from the last exam or final paper due date; otherwise a grade of INC will be recorded.

If a student receives an INC for a course and desires to retake it for credit they will be required to pay the audit price and all remedial work will need to be submitted within one year of the start date of the next offering of that course.

Transfering Coursework to Westminster Seminary

Westminster will accept credits from two CCEF courses free of charge, and two more courses for the cost of Westminster tuition. No transfer is permitted beyond four courses. All CCEF courses must be completed prior to a student’s enrollment in Westminster.

Grading Definitions and Schedule

These are graduate level courses and letter grades are awarded based on the quality of your work. Counseling Observation classes are pass/fail with an attendance requirement.

Grade Meanings

• A = You added dimensions to your work that went above the required assignment.
• B = At CCEF, a "B" represents a good grade. It means that you successfully fulfilled the requirements of the assignment.
• C = You missed some important aspects of the assignment.

Other Grading Designations

1. If a student drops the class before the fourth week, a designation of "W" (for withdrawal) will be made in the academic record.
2. If a student transfers to the next class offering, a designation of "TRF" (for transfer) will be made in the academic record.
3. If a student switches from credit to audit before the fourth week, a note will be made on the class rosters.
4. If a student wants to drop the class after the fourth week, a designation of "INC" (for incomplete) will be made in the academic record.
5. If a student does not complete any of the major assignments for a course a designation of "INC" (for incomplete) will be made in the academic record. If a student does not complete any of the non-major assignments for a course, a "0" will be factored into the final grade for those missing assignments.
6. If a student wants to switch from credit to audit after the fourth week, a a designation of "INC" will be made in the academic record.

Schedule

Most grades are available one month to six weeks after the exams are taken or final papers are handed in. Grades are sent to students by personal letter or email. On-Site students may pick up final papers and exams from CCEF after the grades are mailed or can provide a self addressed, stamped envelope for them to be returned.

Transcripts

Transcripts will be sent to other institutions upon request. There is a $5.00 fee per transcript. Submit your request through mail by downloading this form and sending it along with your payment per the provided instructions.

Transcript Request Form

Distance Education Specific Policies

Class size
Distance Education classes must have a minimum of five students in each cohort offering. Otherwise, that class offering will be cancelled.

Pre-requisites
A Distance Education student must complete or be currently enrolled in the Dynamics of Biblical Change course before taking any other class in the Distance Education program. Students are not permitted to take Dynamics concurrently with any other Distance Education course.

Transferring to a later class offering
If you have registered for a particular class offering and need to transfer that registration to a later class offering, you must notify our Customer Service department at customerservice@ccef.org . Transfers are subject to a $50 processing fee. After the fourth week of class, no request for a transfer will be granted.  If you subsequently decide to withdraw from the class offering you were transferred into, you will be issued a refund according to the tuition refund structure listed above (see Tuition Refunds) based on the date the original transfer request was made.