Academic standards
How credits are counted, what each level of study asks, and how written work is read.
Credits
One credit stands for 15 hours of lectures, with reading set by the level of the course:
| Level | Course numbers | Reading per credit |
|---|---|---|
| Undergraduate | 100-299 | 150 pages |
| Graduate | 500-699 | 300 pages |
| Doctoral | 700 and above | 600 pages, and a 40-page research paper in each course |
A course is read at the standard of the program it counts toward. A graduate course taken in an undergraduate program (the LCS Bachelor of Divinity, or a layer course in the ATS or BTS) is read at the undergraduate standard; the same course taken in the Master of Theology in Reformed Studies adds primary-source reading in the original language.
A course already credited toward one degree does not count again toward a higher one. The school names a replacement from the same track.
Study time at your own pace
Students study in their free time, at their own pace. There is no fixed schedule of terms or weekly hours. Each program page gives an estimate of the hours it asks and of the years it takes at a stated weekly pace, worked out from the credit standard:
| Level | Lectures | Reading | Writing | Hours per credit |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Undergraduate | 15 hours | 150 pages at 20 pages an hour (7 hours) | about 5 hours | about 27.5 |
| Graduate | 15 hours | 300 pages at 20 pages an hour (15 hours) | about 10 hours | about 40 |
| Doctoral | 15 hours | 600 pages at 20 pages an hour (30 hours) | about 13 hours | about 58 |
Program hours are the program's credits times the hours per credit at the program's level (the certificates and the diploma are counted at the undergraduate standard). Years assume 10 hours a week for 48 weeks a year, rounded to the half year. On an LCS course page the estimate uses the lecture hours and reading pages the course actually lists. Writing is about an hour a page of research: 10-20 pages a course at undergraduate level, 30 at graduate and 40 at doctoral, for a course of about three credits.
Course codes
Each course code has a department prefix and a number: SH (Scottish history), CR (continental Reformed), ST (systematic theology, with ethics and apologetics), BS (biblical studies), BL (biblical languages), LG (theological Latin and Dutch), WP (worship and church government), PT (practical theology), RS (theses and the dissertation), and WCF101 for the Certificate in the Westminster Confession.
Classes and progress
A class is a sequence of steps: the text with its Scripture proofs, the catechisms and the continental parallels, the history of the doctrine, the teaching of other traditions, a lecture, readings, objections answered and a written assignment. Students mark each step complete as they finish it, and their progress through each course is shown on their dashboard.
Written work
Each class ends with a written assignment, such as stating the chapter’s doctrine in the student’s own words and proving it from the cited texts. A reviewer reads every submission and gives it one of two outcomes:
- Reviewed: the work meets the standard of the class. The reviewer may add comments.
- Returned: the work needs revision. The reviewer always explains why, and the student revises and submits again.
Work is judged on faithfulness to the text and its proofs, clarity, and the use of the assigned sources. A course is complete when every class has been studied and every written assignment has been marked reviewed.
Theses and the dissertation
The LCS master's and doctoral programs end with the thesis or dissertation the LCS guide prints (6 credits). The school's Master of Theology in Reformed Studies ends with a 6-credit thesis; its Doctor of Theology in Reformed Studies ends with a 12-credit dissertation from primary sources, read by examiners the school appoints.