Our Partnerships
Strategic Partners
PCUTS exists to connect students in the urban church to affordable, accredited, biblically-grounded theological education. We do this by partnering with established institutions rather than building a school from the ground up. PCUTS serves as the bridge, and our university partners provide the accredited degree and certificate programs.
How the Partnership Model Works
PCUTS is a pass-through, referral-based ministry. Our partner universities, Cairn University and Howard University School of Divinity, handle accreditation, instruction, and degree conferral. PCUTS handles outreach, admissions support, and registration, routing students directly into each partner's programs. This lets us open doors for bivocational pastors and ministry leaders who need affordable, flexible pathways into theological education, without the years it takes to build independent accreditation.
Undergraduate Pathway
Cairn University partners with PCUTS to provide affordable, Christ-centered higher education. Eligible PCUTS students and employees can pursue a Cairn degree with exclusive tuition benefits, personalized admissions support, and a clear pathway toward continued academic and ministry preparation.
Students begin in the Associate of Arts in Biblical Studies (60 credits), building a strong biblical and theological foundation. Students who choose not to continue into a bachelor's program may transition into the Biblical & Theological Survey Certificate (12 credits) instead.
- Organizational Tuition Discount Program (OTDP)
- Application fee waiver
- Personalized admissions support
- Pathway into select online bachelor's programs
All applicants must meet Cairn University's standard admissions requirements. Per federal regulations, PCUTS staff cannot confirm financial aid amounts on a student's behalf. Aid must be confirmed directly with Cairn's Financial Aid Office.
Certificate · Continuing Education
Through Howard University School of Divinity's Black Congregations Resource Center (BCRC), PCUTS offers a pathway rooted in the prophetic tradition of the Black Church. The Certificate of Urban Ministry & Biblical Liberation Leadership equips pastors, ministry leaders, and lay servants with theological insight and practical tools to lead ministries that transform communities, engaging Scripture, confronting injustice, and building ministries of healing, hope, and freedom.
The certificate is earned over a seven-week program of study, combining live instruction with theological reflection grounded in liberation theology and the historic witness of the Black Church.
Full curriculum details and instructor listing are being finalized with Howard's Black Congregations Resource Center.