Stewardship: Scholarships & Alignment

Over the past weeks we’ve been reflecting upon various aspects of stewardship. Demonstrating that stewardship is a key component of Winebrenner’s culture requires some kind of evidence, so these posts have included several updates about changes to Winebrenner Seminary’s approach to financial policies. These changes reflect our deepening commitment to the belief that our core task is to steward (or manage) what we have in a way that brings honor to God.

Since the decision to change tuition to $300/month we’ve been working with intentionality to bring all aspects of our activities into alignment with that tuition cost. While this conversation may seem primarily focused on current and future students, those who are financial supporters are also part of the intended audience for these posts. For example, as we’ve worked through the implications of this monthly tuition we’ve clarified that our working assumption is that providing a student with an accredited graduate-level education for $300/month is the equivalent to its own scholarship; so, we are encouraging all givers to consider giving that helps us keep that low-cost tuition. We are working to raise our level of discernment to assist those students who have true financial need as opposed to simply offering scholarships for the sake of offering scholarships.

Winebrenner is fortunate to have several scholarships that were created in memory of someone (we refer to these as “named scholarships”). When all of these were created tuition was much higher than it is now. With the $300/month tuition, a student can complete a single trimester for $1,200 or a full year for $3,600 (we have three 12-week trimesters). So, we are currently in the process of contacting all those who have created a named scholarship at Winebrenner. Many of these have specific requests for the funds to go toward students in certain geographic region or denominational affiliation. Our request is to revise the structure of the scholarships in order to permit greater flexibility for Winebrenner by providing financial resources to keep a low-cost tuition for all students.

Thank you for allowing us to be part of your spiritual journey! Whether a student, collaborative partner, or giver, we are privileged to walk along side of you. At Winebrenner Seminary, we exist to equip leaders for service in God’s kingdom.  We are working intentionally to be a wise “kingdom investment” to advance God’s Kingdom priorities!