How to Start a Religiously Exempt Institution
To start a religiously exempt college or university usually
requires two equally important elements, first, the school must be owned by a religious organization of some kind and
second, it should be incorporated as a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization.
Each state is authorized to oversee the schools that advertise that they are
offering degrees or programs that lead toward degrees, within their state. Each state
has its own regulations. Please review the
approval agencies pageon
this site for the entity in your
state that governs degree granting religiously exempt institutions.
Generally, each state requires that
institutions may not use words like "college, university, seminary, credit and degree". You cannot use these words
in print without permission from your state education department's approval agency, or an exemption from it,
which affirms you are exempt from licensure because you only offer religious degrees. Even then, they will have
restrictions as to what you can offer and what you can say. You should take the time to visit my
approval agencies
page and find your state's approval agency and then take the time to familiarize yourself with your state's laws concerning religious exemption degrees.
As a Rule As a rule a
religious exempt application is fairly short and you should have no problem
handling it yourself. If you require any assistance however please free feel to
contact me or call me at 818-666-1333 and I will be happy to assist you in any
way I can.