Church of The Nazarene - Higher Education

Higher Education

See also: List of Church of the Nazarene schools

The Manual of the Church of the Nazarene states that "he Church of the Nazarene, from its inception, has been committed to higher education. The church provides the college/university with students, administrative and faculty leadership, and financial and spiritual support... The church college/university, while not a local congregation, is an integral part of the church; it is an expression of the church." In holding to this philosophy, in 2011 the Church of the Nazarene owned and operated 53 educational institutions, comprising 13 liberal arts institutions in Brazil, Canada, Kenya, Republic of Korea, South Africa, and the United States; as well as 3 graduate seminaries, 34 undergraduate Bible/theological colleges, 2 nurses' training colleges, and 1 teachers college worldwide. In February 2011 the General Board adopted the recommendation of the International Board of Education to merge Swaziland College of Nursing, Swaziland College of Education, and Swaziland College of Theology to establish Southern Africa Nazarene University, which reduced the number of Nazarene educational institutions to 52.

In 2011 there were 49,547 total students in Nazarene higher education schools worldwide (an increase of 3,580 over 2009), in these 53 Nazarene institutions of higher education in 35 countries on six continents, with 30,936 students enrolled in on-campus programs (a decrease of 221 from last year) and 18,612 students enrolled in extension programs (an increase of 3,802 over last year).

At the end of 2010 these educational assets were valued at US$1,041,436,984 (an increase of US$54.9 million over 2009), with liabilities of US$341,009,574, for a net worth of US$$700,427,410. During the 2010-2011 academic year, 11,015 degrees or diplomas were awarded by Nazarene institutions worldwide, an increase of 1,691 over the previous year. In 2011 the largest Nazarene educational institution was Korea Nazarene University, with 5,834 students, followed by Olivet Nazarene University in Bourbonnais, Illinois (4,181 students), and Africa Nazarene University in Nairobi, Kenya (3,153 students).

On October 16, 2009 the Global Consortium of Nazarene Graduate Seminaries and Schools of Theology (GCNGSST) was inaugurated in Manchester, England. It comprised the following eight institutions: Africa Nazarene University (Ongata Rongai, Kenya); Asia-Pacific Nazarene Theological Seminary (Taytay, Rizal, Philippines); Brazil Nazarene College (Campinas, Brazil); Korea Nazarene University (Cheonan, South Korea); Nazarene Theological College, (Brisbane, Australia); Nazarene Theological College, (Manchester, England); Nazarene Theological Seminary (Kansas City, Missouri); and Seminario Nazareno de las Americas (SENDAS) (San Jose, Costa Rica). Nazarene educational institutions are overseen by the Nazarene International Board of Education (IBOE). Funded through a grant from the Henry Luce Foundation, the consortium connects Nazarene seminaries by optimizing the global resources available for theological education. While much of the work of the consortium is done throughout the year via video conferencing, subsequent meetings of the presidents and academic deans of the member institutions were held on the campuses of Korean Nazarene University in October 2010, and Nazarene Theological Seminary in August 2012.

A portion of each local church and district budget is allocated for Nazarene higher education, which subsidizes the cost of each Region or nation's respective institution. Globally the denomination contributed US$$23,904,271 in 2010 (a decrease of US$1,865,713 from 2009) to Nazarene educational institutions. Hence, in the United States and Canada, there is one Nazarene liberal arts college per Region. Accompanying that logic of institutional support, there is a gentlemen's agreement between the Nazarene liberal arts colleges in the United States to not actively recruit outside their respective region, requiring that a Nazarene prospective college student must first seek information from any "Off-Region" institution on an individual basis. Bible colleges and seminaries are not associated with a Region in the same way as the liberal arts colleges.