History
The college was established by the 1891 General Synod of the Church of England in Australia and Tasmania. The college was founded in order to provide for the "systematic study of divinity", especially among clergy and ordination candidates, there being no realistic opportunities for them to earn a Bachelor of Divinity (BD) degree at English universities.
The ACT is a national consortium of affiliated colleges with 18 theological and Bible colleges approved to deliver its accredited courses. About 1400 equivalent full-time students (including 90 international students), or 2600 individual students and research candidates are enrolled in courses.
On 12 November 2004 the delegate of the Minister for Education, Science and Training approved the college as a higher education provider (HEP) under the Higher Education Support Act 2003 (Cth). This approval took effect in March 2005. As a HEP, the ACT administers the FEE-HELP programme, by which students enrolled in accredited higher education courses of the ACT may receive an income contingent loan for their tuition fees.
In addition, as a HEP under the Higher Education Support Act, the ACT was required to undergo a quality audit conducted by the Australian Universities Quality Agency (AUQA). In November 2006 the college was the first non self-accrediting HEP to be so audited. The AUQA Audit Report was completed in January 2007 and publicly released on the AUQA website in February 2007.
In July 2010 the college received self-accrediting authority under the terms of the National Protocols for Higher Education Approval Processes. This authority must be reviewed by 30 April 2015. The college is the first institution to be awarded self-accrediting status under the protocols. This means that the college can accredit its own courses in theology and ministry within the scope of the self-accrediting authority specified by the Department of Education and Training in New South Wales.
Read more about this topic: Australian College Of Theology
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