Accreditation

ELTU is regulated and fully approved to operate all its degrees and courses through the Texas Workforce Commission Careers & Colleges Division. Accreditation is not required by the U.S. Department of Education. ELTU is not accredited by a Department of Education approved accrediting agency as ELTU degree programs and seminar content is not designed for state licensure certification or any other professional occupational requirements.

ELTU is offered to enhance and maximize a student’s interests in their personal, professional, or spiritual journey, and therefore, ELTU’s degree programs are entirely religious in nature and fall within the exception for authorization in 19 Texas Administrative Code § 7.9. This means that  ELTU is recognized by the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board (THECB) as a bona fide religious postsecondary educational institution exempt under the Code, and is permitted to offer religious degrees in Texas under this exemption.

ELTU may consider accreditation plans through various institutions or associations. However, such policies and regulations prevent ELTU from disclosing any information that may lead students or potential candidates to assume accreditation consideration or approval is imminent. Should we consider undergoing an organization or institution’s  accreditation process, we must not publish information prior to completion and approval of that process.

We want you to be completely confident in your search for the highest quality spiritual development and faith-based education initiatives. Therefore, ELTU voluntarily complies with the State of Texas Workforce Commission Career Colleges and Schools Division. The State requires that schools like ELTU have a Board of Directors for programs with over 200 contact hours. Plus, ELTU has a Faculty Development Plan with a Continuous Improvement Process, and we provide all students with an evaluation survey at the end of their ELTU journey so that we get feedback from students as to the efficacy of our programs and staff. With these extra efforts put in place, we are grateful and satisfied that we’re doing well and all we can to be the blessing that we intend to be for those who come experience ELTU.

We are also providing links below to create awareness about processes and general operational requirements that apply to us. We trust that information you find here is helpful to you in your search for a school that best suits your needs. Full details on how ELTU meets and exceeds the standards for school operation are published and shared in the links below.

Texas Workforce Commission – Career Schools & College Division 

ELTU Policy Handbook & Catalog

Our Prayer for ELTU Students

Our Prayer is that God grant you riches from His glory that strengthen you in your inner-man; That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith so richly that being rooted and grounded in love, you may share and experience that love beyond comprehension as men and women – brothers and sisters in Christ. We pray that the deeper things of God being at work in you show the depth, breadth, length, and height of Christ extended so fully into the world that who you are and what you do are completely satisfied and fulfilled in who He is and His purpose for your life. We pray that through this experience at ELTU, you are transformed for yourself and the world around you.

Scriptures We Stand On:

• Ephesians 1:16-23 and the entire chapter;
• Ephesians 3:16-19

Doctrinal Statements

ELTU DOCTRINAL STATEMENT OF FAITH

ELTU unites with the broader evangelical faith rather than affiliating with any specific denomination. In this commitment, the University embraces the following declarations:

• We Believe the Bible to be the inspired, the only infallible, authoritative Word of God. (1 Thessalonians 2:13; 2 Timothy 3:15-17; John 3:16).
• We Believe that there is one God, eternally existent in three persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. (Matthew 28:19; John 10:30; Ephesians 4:4-6).
• We believe in the Genesis account of creation. (Book of Genesis)
• We Believe in the deity of our Lord Jesus Christ, in His virgin birth, in His sinless life, in His miracles, in His vicarious and atoning death through His shed blood, in His bodily resurrection, in His ascension to the right hand of the Father, and in His personal return in power and glory. (Matthew 1:23; John 1:1-4 and 1:29; Acts 1:11 and 2:22-24; Romans 8:34; 1 Corinthians 15:3-4; 2 Corinthians 5:21; Philippians 2:5-11; Hebrews 1:1-4 and 4:15).
• We believe that salvation is the free gift of God and is possessed by each individual who has, by faith, received Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord. We believe salvation is a finished work because of Calvary and is received in three stages: (Romans 10:9; Ephesians 2:8-9; 1 Thessalonians 4:17).

1. 1. At the cross, the blood of Christ sets us forever free from the penalty of sin.
   2. Through the living Christ working in His body members, He sets us free from the power of sin.
   3. At His return, He will set us free from the presence of sin.

• We Believe that for the salvation of lost and sinful people, regeneration by the Holy Spirit is absolutely essential. (Romans 8:9-11).
• We believe in the present and living ministry of the Holy Spirit, who indwells and empowers every Christian for service. He imparts spiritual gifts to all as needed, so all will become agents of Christ’s love and impart God’s grace to others. (John 3:5-8; Acts 1:8 and 4:31; Romans 8:9; 1 Corinthians 2:14; Galatians 5:16-18; Ephesians 6:12; Colossians 2:6-10).
• We Believe in the resurrection of both the saved and the lost; they that are saved unto the resurrection of life and they that are lost unto the resurrection of damnation. (1 Corinthians 15:51-57; Revelation 20:11-15; Luke 24:46-47; John 14:6; Acts 4:12; Romans 3:23; 2 Corinthians 5:10-11; Ephesians 1:7 and 2:8-9; Titus 3:4-7).
• We Believe in the spiritual unity of believers in our Lord Jesus Christ. We believe “church” describes the “called-out people,” baptized by the Holy Spirit to form the one Body of Christ on earth today. (1 Corinthians 12:12, 27; Ephesians 1:22-23; Romans 12:5).
• We want to make it plain that we believe the church is not a building made with hands but is a people wherein the spirit of Christ dwells – the body of Christ! The church does not have a membership; it has body members. Therefore, no church membership is required to be a part of the ELTU student community or educators and staff. (1 Corinthians 6:19, Ephesians 2:22; 1 Corinthians 3:16; Acts 7:48-49; Acts 17:24).
• We believe the great commission is a calling upon all believers and that every member must be fully equipped and released to fulfill their callings in ministry. At ELTU, this will be done through the student community who embarks on their educational journey at ELTU. (Matthew 28:18-20; Acts 1:8; Romans 10:9-15; 1 Peter 3:15).
• We believe that every believer is accountable for the proper investment of time and income, and that we are to be responsible to and for each other as we live as a Christian family. (Matthew 25:14-30; Romans 8; 1 John 3:1-2; Ephesians 2:19-22; Galatians 6:10; Romans 12:5).

These declarations do not comprise all that individual Christians may consider important elements of faith; rather, they establish the essential framework within which members of the University both unite in shared beliefs and explore differences.

ELTU Statement of Convictions

ELTU is a Christian institution of higher education. Our University rests on a belief system where truth matters and where there is a unifying center (Jesus Christ) who holds all things and disciplines together. This has been our conviction since our founding, and it continues to be our conviction today. But truth is to be held and lived out in love, especially amongst leaders. Hence our mission, ” birthing biblical leaders who are motivated, inspired, and empowered through the Word of God to become their best – transformed, renewed, fulfilled, and sustained in every area of life…” and our promise of “Destiny Delivered.”  (Matthew 17:5-8; 1 Timothy 3,Titus 1)

1. Holy Scripture: We have always believed in the truthfulness of the Bible. We understand the use of the word “infallibility” in our Statement of Faith to mean inerrancy (as articulated in The Chicago Statement of Biblical Inerrancy), that the 66 books of the Bible, in their original manuscripts, are without error in all that they affirm. Scripture is our supreme authority under Christ. (2 Timothy 3:16; 2 Peter 1:21; Psalm 12:6; John 17:17)
2. The Gospel: As we are not affiliated with any denomination specifically, we believe in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, and agree that the term “evangelical” comes from the Greek word euangelion, meaning “the good news” or the “gospel.” Thus, the evangelical faith focuses on the “good news” of salvation brought to sinners through Jesus Christ. We have a biblical mandate to share this good news everywhere. We also understand the language of being “saved” in our Statement of Faith to mean that we are saved (i.e., justified) by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone, and that true faith will show itself in good works. (Romans 3:21-28; Romans 5:1; Galatians 2:16; Ephesians 2:8-10)
3. Race and Ethnicity: Believing in a biblical view of human nature, we affirm that all people are made in the image of God and are consequently worthy of respect. Scripture also states that Christ has “ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation, and … made them a kingdom and priests to our God.” Therefore, we look at the value of all persons through the lens of biblical truth as image bearers who can have a new identity in Christ. (Genesis 1:26,27; Ephesians 1-2; Revelation 5:9,10)
4. Sex and Gender: In affirming what God’s Word has stated in the Bible and what we mean as well as what Bible-believing Christians have always meant, that God created human beings in His image as male and female, that He ordained marriage and it is to be between a man (male) and a woman (female) for life, and that sexual intimacy is exclusively for marriage. (Genesis 1:26-27; Genesis 2:24; Matthew 19:4-6; Ephesians 5:22-33; Revelation 19:7-9)
5. The Church and its Ministries: When we claim to be “servants of the church,” we mean what we all our employees — administration, faculty, staff, and also Board of Directors or Trustees — should be committed Bible-believing Christians and true disciples of Jesus Christ and His Gospel (see No. 2). While we recognize the vital role of pastors and teachers, we also believe in the priesthood of all believers, where God calls every believer to active ministry as a member of His body, the church, so we hold that every Christian at ELTU (i.e., all employees, from office staff to facilities, to faculty, to the president) should see their jobs as ministries to our students, and that all should live lives of obedience to Christ and His Word. (Matthew 16:18; 28:18-20; Ephesians 4:11-13; 1 Peter 2:9)
6. Christ-Centered Higher Education and Truth: In its central convictions, ELTU stands in the great tradition of Christian higher education in which education must begin with the “fear of the Lord,” must be rooted in the Scriptures and Jesus Christ (“in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge”), and must affirm the truthfulness of truth and the reality of God’s created order. (Proverbs 1:7; 9:10; Colossians 2:3)