Maitripa College has held degree granting authority from the Higher Education Coordinating Commission of the State of Oregon since 2008 and plans to become accredited through the Northwest Consortium of Colleges and Universities in the future.

The Association of Professional Chaplains has recognized Maitripa College’s MDiv degree as the graduate theological educational equivalency of a degree accredited by the US Department of Education. This means that our degree fulfills the educational requirement for those seeking Board Certification with the APC’s affiliated Board of Chaplaincy Certification, Inc., the highest standard certification which is most widely accepted and sought by employers across the U.S.

As the professional field diversifies, other certifying bodies have arisen with different criteria; the Maitripa College degree may or may not meet all professional organizations’ certification or employment criteria. We have not yet established relationships with all the proliferating clinical training and certification bodies, but suspect if they learn about us and our degree requirements, other equivalencies could also be obtained. Nonetheless, we urge caution for students, as many newer organizations’ trainings and certifications are not yet widely recognized as qualifications by employers; it is an evolving field! Meanwhile, Matripa College has excellent relationships with the ACPE (Association for Clinical Pastoral Education, which accredits CPE programs) and the APC (Association for Professional Chaplains), the pre-eminent training and certification bodies today.

Maitripa College has had Degree Granting Authority within the State of Oregon from the Higher Education Coordinating Commission since 2008. All Oregon universities and employers are required to recognize the Maitripa College credential. As Maitripa College is not yet accredited by the U.S. Department of Education’s accrediting bodies, some agencies or employers may not recognize the Maitripa College degree outside of Oregon. In practice, our MDiv students and alumni have been recognized as holding valid academic credentials when applying for Clinical Pastoral Education programs and employment as Chaplains, in Oregon, California, Connecticut, and New York to date. 

We encourage you to speak with us about the significance of accreditation to your educational plans, as the importance of it may vary by individual. In general, areas in which you may notice it include Federal loan funding, which is not available to students at non-accredited schools, transfer credits (whether or not another school awards credit for coursework is within that school’s discretion), and recognition of the degree by another school in connection with a PhD program.

This school is a non-profit corporation and is authorized by the State of Oregon to offer and confer the academic degrees and certificates described herein, following a determination that state academic standards will be satisfied under OAR 583-030. Inquiries concerning the standards or school compliance may be directed to the Higher Education Coordinating Commission, Office of Degree Authorization, 3225 25th Street SE, Salem, OR 97302.