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Grace College Online Education

Grace Online Story – Online Christian Education

Our Story

Affiliated with the Charis Fellowship (formerly Fellowship of Grace Brethren Churches), Grace Theological Seminary was founded in 1937, and the college was established eleven years later in 1948. Coming from the Brethren tradition, the founders were shaped by a heritage that drew distinctive features from a variety of historical traditions. Influential among this group was Alva J. McClain, the institution’s first president.

As McClain, along with those around him, established the seminary and then the college, he sought to create an environment that was informed in meaningful ways by the eclectic heritage of the Brethren tradition while fashioning institutions that would thrive within American evangelicalism, which was, in the 1930s and 1940s, an increasingly robust and influential movement. This evangelical identity was enhanced by the location of the seminary and college: Winona Lake, Indiana, a resort community that had become a center for Progressive Era social and political activity and, by the 1920s, a well-known location for evangelical Bible Conferences.


Our Community

Throughout the ensuing decades, the enrollment of Grace Theological Seminary and Grace College has grown exponentially and numerous buildings have been added to the 180-acre campus. Informed by our diverse heritage, while committed to the values that unite us, we look to the future, offering quality undergraduate and graduate degree programs through seven schools that constitute Grace College and Theological Seminary: the School of Arts and Humanities, the School of Science and Engineering, the School of Behavioral Sciences, the School of Business, the School of Education, the School of Ministry Studies, and the School of Professional and Online Education.


Our Education

Although Grace College didn’t begin offering online courses until 2007, when we launched our online Master of Arts in Ministry Studies, it has a history of more than 85 years with the backing of a brick-and-mortar college and seminary. Grace College Online approaches education recognizing that spiritual formation and academic excellence go hand in hand. Our undergraduate and graduate students find that through the design of the content and the Grace learning community as a whole, they experience Christ-centered community, thoughtful scholarship and career preparation.