A: Introduction and overview:

1. For details of Courses, Degrees, and general Administration please study the main R.I.T.S. catalogue pages carefully. All Courses and Degrees are available to U.K. and European distance learning students.
2. Based in Florida, United States of America, R.I.T.S. is a truly international seminary. Members of the faculty provide courses through the means of lectures available via audio tape or CD and maintain contact with their English speaking students located anywhere in the world primarily by phone or e-mail.
3. The current Chairman of the Doctoral Committee is British and has played a special role in developing R.I.T.S.
4. To assist British and European students, faculty members most suited to assist them will be appointed to oversee enrollments and administrative procedures, and are available to 'mentor' student's progress and offer advise (via email or 'phone) where necessary.
5. All marking and grading of British or European students’ work is done by assigned faculty under the oversight of R.I.T.S.
6. Fees may be paid in £s sterling by credit card, but if by check, must be paid in U.S. dollars.
7. Degree Diplomas, where granted, will be granted in Florida and forwarded with the appropriate signatures to the student.
8. Degrees granted (as stated in the main Catalogue) are monitored by a ‘Peer Group’ of Independent Colleges and Schools, and approved by the state education authorities in Florida. In general terms a R.I.T.S. Master’s Degree in Divinity (M.Div.) would be accepted as fulfilling theological education requirements for Presbytery examination in denominations such as the Orthodox Presbyterian Church (O.P.C.) or Presbyterian Church in America (P.C.A.).
9. The Westminster Standards are the theological basis of all tuition, and all faculty members pledge allegiance to those standards as the expression of their own personal faith and doctrinal stance.

1. Initial enquiry (via email please), to discuss eligibility, course choices, etc. R.I.T.S. will assign a faculty mentor to consult with the distance learning student to facilitate their quality learning experience.
2. All enrollment forms may be downloaded and printed from the website. These may be posted with the appropriate application fee in £s sterling. Official student status notification will be forwarded directly from Florida.
3. Course material (lectures on audio cassette or CD, printed Course ‘Outlines’, Examination Question sets) will be mailed directly to the student from Florida, but all submissions of written work, (examination questions,) dissertations etc., are submitted (via mail or file transfer) to the designated faculty mentor. It is also required that all ‘undergraduate’ students (i.e. all those except Doctoral candidates) report via email to their faculty mentor once per fortnight. This is simply to record progress, but may also be used to raise questions or difficulties, or seek tutorial help.
4. Degree Graduation occurs when all the courses for the degree have been completed, ‘pass’ grades achieved on all examination papers and written dissertations, and all fees have been paid in full.

All courses are structured around their constituent units or subjects, which may be taken individually, or built up towards a degree goal. Each individual course subject is graded by its size and content with one, two, three, or four ‘credits’. For example, a non-degree student simply wishing to take the ‘New Testament Greek’ course as a ‘one-off’ takes ‘Greek I’ and ‘Greek II’ at 4 credits each, a total of 8 credits. Hermeneutics (Biblical Interpretation) as a ‘one-off’ carries 3 credits. On the other hand a full, pastoral training (equivalent to a three- year ‘on campus’) Master of Divinity (M.Div.) course requires 115 credits to complete. Christian Studies Master of Arts requires 45 credits, and may be taken with either a ‘Bible & Theology’ or a ‘Bible & Church History’ major. (For other degrees see the main R.I.T.S. catalogue). Most courses include four elements: a) A taped (or CD) recorded lecture series, b) A printed ‘Student’s Outline’ of the entire course, c) set reading requiring stated textbooks, d) appropriate student work in the form of quizzes, tests, reports and thesis where applicable.

Costs to the student for these are as follows:

1. Each ‘credit’ is priced at £35= for distance learning students in the U.K. and Europe.
2. All written outlines are 'free', that is included in the fees for CD or tapes for that particular course.
3. Lecture sets are purchased by the student and remain his property. It is necessary to check with R.I.T.S. on the current price of each set required in turn. Lecture tape sets range from 8 tapes (New Testament Greek I), through to 81 tapes (Calvin’s Institutes), with suitably graded ‘credits’ towards a degree goal. A rough ‘working average’ across the spread of courses available would be approximately £62 per lecture set (including printed ‘Outline’). n.b. this is assuming that the lecture series are boxed audio-tape format. As courses become available on CD they will become proportionately less expensive.

Any other costs? Yes:
a) postage of materials from the U.S. is chargeable at cost.
b) an enrollment fee of £35 is payable to establish ‘student’ status.

Set textbooks may be obtained by the student himself from Christian bookshops in the U.K. or Europe (new or used!) In cases of difficulty all books are available from the Seminary Bookstore in Florida. Certain rare texts are privately printed by the Seminary, and available from our Bookstore. Postage on books ordered from the Seminary Bookstore is charged at cost.

Proceed exactly as listed in the ‘Advanced or Doctorate Degee’ section of the R.I.T.S. catalogue, with the exception that fees may be paid in £s sterling. The Doctoral candidates required ‘mentor’ will normally be U.K. based.

As Doctoral and higher Degrees are completed mainly via written thesis, rather than a set course of study, fees may be paid fully in advance, or in two equal portions, or in three portions (at the commencement, mid-way point, and completion of the thesis) by arrangement, and must be paid in full in all cases before a diploma can be issued. Fees are as follows:

Plus Application/ Administration fee of £35 in all cases.

1. Contributions/donations: There may be friends who do not require training and education themselves, but who are led of the Lord to aid the training of others, especially with a view to the forming and gathering of new Reformed Churches in mainland Britain, and the provision of pastoral ministry for them. Any donations made for this purpose will be acknowledged and used 100% to off-set fees for approved students.
2. Bursaries: are reductions in course fees, granted to approved students (especially those seeking to minister within newly forming Presbyterian-Reformed Churches in Britain) subject to the availability of funds from donations contributed for this purpose.