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| Louisiana Baptist University | |
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| Established | 1973 |
| School type | Private/unaccredited |
| President | Neal Weaver |
| Location | Shreveport, Louisiana, USA |
| Enrollment | 1,100 undergraduate and graduate |
| Faculty | 65 |
| Homepage | www.lbu.edu |
Louisiana Baptist University is a conservative Christian university, founded in 1973, with the physical campus located in Shreveport, Louisiana. The school has no accreditation from the US Department of Education, which makes it an unaccredited university. It has an on-campus program, as well as an extensive correspondence/distance education program, which enrolls students from all over the world . The LBU curriculum offers over 250 ground-based and 400 distance courses, mostly in subjects pertaining to the Bible and Baptist theology . As a non-traditional college, LBU provides a number of mechanisms by which a student may earn credit, including the application of military credit, credit by examination, and life experience credit. The school also has a liberal transfer credit policy.
Accreditation, licensing, and approvals
On December 10, 1998, the Louisiana Board of Regents unanimously voted to deny the University an operating license for its business programs, required it to cease admitting students, and cease advertising . Students matriculated at the time were allowed until December 31, 1999 to finish their degrees. Meanwhile, on April 22, 1999, the Board exempted the University from licensing requirements under a "religious institution exemption" .
LBU is one of five approved colleges and universities of the Baptist Bible Fellowship International, an organization with over 4,000 churches in the United States and several foreign countries. Students who complete their degree in missions through LBU and meet other requirements may be approved as fellowship missionaries.
The University holds full institutional approval from the Association of Christian Colleges and Theological Schools. ACCTS is designed to monitor religious colleges, universities, and seminaries. However, it has no status with the U.S. Department of Education or any other federal agency charged with the accredition of religious institutions .
While the school is unaccredited, the url contains the .edu domain. This may mislead some to think the school has some standing with US government approval. Yet, the usage of the .edu domain was explained by the US Department of Education as "not all institutions that use an .edu as a part of their Internet address are legitimate institutions. Before the U.S. Department of Commerce created its current, strict requirements, some questionable institutions were approved to use an .edu. The current requirements allow only colleges and institutions accredited by an agency recognized by the U.S. Department of Education to use the .edu, however, some more suspect institutions have maintained the .edu addresses."
The University has 65 faculty, but it is unknown to what extent they are tenured, full time, part time, full professorships, or assistant professorships. Nevertheless, only two people on the staff has finished PhD doctoral work from an accredited institution. In fact 25 out of the 65 faculty listed graduated from LBU.
LBU's 2002-2003 handbook stated that the school was listed in the Directory of Postsecondary Institutions, published by the National Center for Educational Statistics of the U.S. Department of Education. However, according to their online system, they are not listed.
Noteworthy events
- 2005: Governor Kathleen Blanco declared April to be "Louisiana Baptist University Month," citing the school as an "important leader in innovative Christian education in the United States and in the world," while praising it as "an Ambassador of Good Will."
- 2006: Jerry Falwell, chancellor of Liberty University, is scheduled to appear at the graduation ceremony and will give the commencement address.
Contact information
- Louisiana Baptist University
- 6301 Westport Avenue
- Shreveport, LA 71129
- Phone: 318-686-2360
- Email: lbuinfo@lbu.edu
External links
- Louisiana Baptist University
- Library of Congress Doctoral Information Information from the US Library of Congress on PhD dissertations.
- Credential Watch - Lists the Association of Christian Colleges and Theological Schools as a suspect accrediting agency.
- The US Department of Education webpage on Dipolma Mills Includes explanation of .edu domains.
- LBU's Alumni Page
Endnotes
- *Guidelines for Writing Assignments pamphlet (In *.pdf format)