1998
City Vision founded as the education arm
of AGRM called Rescue College.
2005
Rescue College is accredited by the Distance Education Accrediting Commission with a degree completion program in Missions.
2008
Rescue College becomes a part of the
Christian nonprofit TechMission
and is renamed City Vision College.
2015
2019
City Vision celebrates serving students and
interns from over 100 rescue missions.
St. Matthew’s House is an incredibly innovative $19 million dollar rescue mission serving the poor, homeless and addicted in Naples, FL. Each year, they provide over 513,000 meals and housing to over 1,000 individuals. Of those, 120 are placed in jobs, and 385 are placed in housing. The leadership of St. Matthew’s realized a key strategy to remain effective and innovative is to invest heavily in the education and training of their staff. In the past 3 years, St. Matthew’s has had over 25 of their staff and others enroll in City Vision and one of their staff has become faculty.
As a strategic partner, City Vision provides a $250/course scholarship so tuition is only $5,500/year. Also, many of their staff have outstanding senior management experience, enabling them to accelerate their degree by getting prior learning credit for their past experience. We plan to partner with St. Matthew’s to design some of our free MOOC courses, so they could be taken by all their intensive residential recovery programs participants. As our partner, St. Matthew’s can better fulfill their vision of transforming thousands of lives and becoming a national model of best practices for other organizations to replicate.
“The partnership with City Vision has been one of the most important factors to equip our team to minister to the needs of the poor. Without this partnership, we wouldn’t be nearly as effective serving our most vulnerable neighbors.”
– Rev. Vann Ellison, President, St. Matthew’s House
Bakersfield Rescue Mission
• Bill Rogowski
Bay Area Rescue Mission
•Carey Kachurka
Blue Rose Mission
• Stanley Wertz
Bowery Mission
• Neil Connors
Bread of Life Mission
• Cherise Merrick
Bridgeport Rescue Mission (3)
• George Perron
• Nancy deMaille
• Rebekah Wilcox
Brother Bryan Mission of Birmingham
• Stanley Dodd
Buffalo City Mission
• Jan Mansfield
Capital City Rescue Mission (3)
• Ibrahima Diop
• Shirley Rabonza
• Susan Strickland
Central Wyoming Rescue Mission (5)
• Dave Matthews
• Jackie Pickinpaugh
• Sharon Lockwood
• William Cappello
• Chariss Warner
City Mission (2)
• Dale Hartman
• Shirley Fierro
City Rescue Mission (PA) (3)
• Daniel Collmus
• Gregory Miheli
• Victoria Ratzlaff
City Rescue Mission (FL)
• Kenneth Gossard
City Union MIssion (2)
• Amanda Greene
• Brian Greene
City Union Mission (Kansas City) (2)
• Anne Ganschow
• Mike Wutherich
Cleveland County Rescue Mission
• Tracy Duncan
Crossroad Mission (AZ)
• Myra Garlit
Crossroads Nogales Missions
• John Tibbetts
Denver Rescue Mission (6)
• Alice Cavanaugh
• Anthony Mbugua
• Ashley Faiella
• Emanuel Torres-Alarcon
• Katelyn Pennell
• Olivia Wall
Durham Rescue Mission
• Robert Tart
Fresno Rescue Mission (2)
• Javier Garza
• Joaquin Gonzales
Fort Collins Rescue Mission (CO)
• Paula Ordaz
Gospel Rescue Mission (OK)
• Richard Schaus
Great Falls Rescue Mission (7)
• Beth Clark
• Dawn Moltzan
• John Zollinger
• Mike Washington
• Onita Yost
• Paul Tyner
• Suzi Trebas
• Therese Martinez
Hiway 80 Rescue Mission Ministries (5)
• Jason Brandon
• Jonathan Alford
• Richard Sanchez
• Stefan Arredondo
• Stephen Pullum
Holland Rescue Mission (2)
• Oliver Williams
• Stephanie Ortiz
Hope Gospel Mission (2)
• Chis Hedlund
• Dorothy Gorell
Jericho Road Ministries (FL)
• Cheryl Hart
Jericho Road Ministries, Inc. (5)
• Anthony Carter
• Cheryl Hart
• Judy Buckingham
• Nelson McCrimmon
• Tiffany Reynolds
Jimmie Hale Mission (2)
• Wesley Parkhurst
• John Lindsey Jr.
Kansas City Rescue Mission (2)
• Allen Pickett
• Paul Matsuoka
Kelowna Gospel Mission
• Erik Olson
Keystone Mission (10)
• Daniel Tommaselli
• John Thibodeau
• Jonathan Marshall
• Jonathan Musgrove
• Kevin Bahlmann
• Phil Schultz
• Stacey Cunningham
• Steven Packard
• Terrance McAvoy
• Daniel Rivero
Kitsap Rescue Mission
• Walter Le Couteur
Klamath Falls Rescue Mission
• Gary Everest
Knox Area Rescue Ministries (4)
• Leif Hietala
• Nathan (Gordon) Sharpe
• Rhonda Chambers
• Jeffrey Crick
Kokomo Rescue Mission (2)
• Chris Helton
• Ronald Visser
Lexington Rescue Mission (2)
• John Ferguson
• Nick Adam
Light of Life Rescue Mission
• Pamela Armstrong
Lighthouse Ministries, Inc (Lexington, KY)
• Valerie Henderson
Lighthouse Mission Ministries (Bellingham)
• Aaron Speyer
Lima Rescue Mission
• Aaron Ferguson
Market Street Mission (3)
• Joseph Gallow
• Kevin Vance
• Paul DeMarco
Mel Trotter Ministries
• Katrina Hansen
Merced County Rescue Mission
• Lydia Crane
Miami Rescue Mission Inc (5)
• Gary Cooper
• James Whitworth
• Lianner Sarduy
• Marilyn Brummitt
• Ronald Brummitt
Montana Rescue Mission (2)
• Glenn Fournier
• Robert Fournier
Muncie Mission Ministries, Inc.
• Dennis Powell
Muskegon Rescue Mission
• Bridget Pierce
Nashville Rescue Mission (2)
• Currey Womack
• James Gregory
New York City Rescue Mission (2)
• Bennie Caswell
• Jeffrey Kolsch
Niagara Gospel Rescue Mission
• Chad Magers
Open Door Mission (Glens Falls, NY)
• Amy Buss
Open Door Mission (Rochester, NY)
• Kenneth Hicks
Orlando Union Rescue Mission
• Ronald McArdle
Panama City Rescue Mission (3)
• Lamont Mason
• Matthew Mitchell
• Timothy Clark
Path of Citrus County
• Shaun Seedeen
Providence Rescue Mission (2)
• David Horowitz
• Peter Farrelly
Raleigh Rescue Mission, Inc.
• Merritt Jones
Regina Rescue Mission (3)
• Jarad Welle
• Larry Wright
• Melanie Van Herk
Rescue Mission of Salt Lake
• Lisa Wolfe
Rescue Mission of Utica (3)
• Ernie Talerico
• Peter Donnelly
• Thomas Caruso
Rockford Rescue Mission
• Jan Danaher
Safe Harbor Rescue Mission
• Deborah Haynes
Salem Union Gospel Mission
• Deborah Doland
Salt Lake City Mission (3)
• Bryana Serrano
• Eric Daniels • Sarah Snider
Samaritan Ministries Gospel Rescue Mission
• Janet Laggan
Santa Barbara Rescue Mission
• Stacy Waddle
Scranton Rescue Mission (2)
• Heather Kraus
• Donald Regan
Seattle’s Union Gospel Mission (4)
• Brian Ostertag
• Robert Coggins
• Roger Howell
• Terence Charles
Sioux City Gospel Mission
• James (Jim) Bingen
Souls Harbor Rescue Mission (14)
• Gregory Martell
• Josephine Krauss
• Michelle Porter
• Ryan Vriends
• Vicki L Hack
• Benjamin Swain
• Brigitte London
• Adam Elliot
• Crystal Klassen
• Jonathan Hack
• Rebecca Cochrane
• Shantel Arendt
• Shawna Fitz
• Stephanie Mitchell
Southern New Hampshire Rescue Mission
• James/Michael Rosano
• Jeffrey Bartlett
Springfield Victory Mission (5)
• Anna Zachary
• Dontay Elliot
• Johnny Johnson
• Joshua Barrett
• Maxwell Willman
Springs Rescue Mission (4)
• Gary Browning
• Jeffrey Cook
• Phyllis Sheets
• Sarah Stacy
St. Augustine Rescue Mission
• Thomas Nicholson
St. Matthew’s House (3)
• Brittany Hargrove
• Daniel Scarnecchia
• Jay Goodman
Stowe Mission of Central Ohio
• Austin Hill
Sunday Breakfast Mission (2)
• Michael Smith
• Richard Selfridge
Sunday Breakfast Rescue Mission (2)
• Deborah Lewandowski
• William Brown
Sunshine Rescue Mission, Inc.
• Deborah Wallace
Topeka Rescue Mission
• Nell Ritchey
Tri-City Union Gospel Mission (2)
• Chariss Warner
• Debra Biondolillo
Union Gospel Mission (MB)
• Tina LaBelle
Union Gospel Mission (OR) (2)
• Dennis Sherry
• Linda Lacy
Union Gospel Mission Dallas
• David Higbee
Union Gospel Mission of Grays Harbor (2)
• Teresa Parker
• Laurel Wiitala
Union Gospel Mission of Missoula
• Debra Smith
United Christian Advocacy Network
• James Quattrone
Water Street Ministries
• Andres “Andy” Rodriguez
Westminster Rescue Mission
• Ed Barber
Wheeler Mission Ministries, Inc (14)
• Robert Bennett
• Ryan Bobbett
• Song Brewer
• Janet Davidson
• Nicholas Dietz
• Eric Gardner
• Jennifer Hamilton
• Lauren Lopez
• Christopher Nemeth
• Tanya Pascal
• Michael Phelps
• Stephan Rice
• Breana Rothrock
• Nicole Thomas
Winchester Rescue Mission
• Neil Connors
Winston-Salem Rescue Mission
• Aaron Shaw
Wyoming Rescue Mission (2)
• Jackie Pickinpaugh
• Denise Kleemeyer
We are accredited by the Distance Education Accrediting Commission, which is listed by the U.S. Department of Education as a recognized accrediting agency.
We are an Approved Provider for NAADAC, which allows us to provide an educational path to addiction counseling certification in most states.
With our 8-week format and 5 start dates per year, you can study on your schedule in 100% online courses. You never have to travel to a physical campus.
Our online courses are like live courses but instead of live lectures, most are recorded. Instead of live discussion, you have discussion forums with other students.
Undergraduate Certificates (6 courses, 8 months): Addiction Counseling, Nonprofit Management, Business, Ministry, Nonprofit Fundraising, Food Service Management & Retail Management.
Graduate Certificates (4 courses, 5 months): Addiction Counseling, Nonprofit Management, Ministry, Nonprofit Fundraising.
Note: Prices listed above are our prices without scholarship. Scholarships would apply as described on this page.
Like us, you work to transform lives. But some people you serve may appear stuck in dysfunction. You may feel over your head, like no one trained you for this. The needs seem endless, and you want to be more effective.
You know you need training to serve well, but you don’t have the time to stop working to get trained. City Vision’s flexible online programs allow you to balance work, family, and the rest of your life.
You deserve an affordable, flexible degree so you can help move your nonprofit to profound success. We want our students to know they are making a difference.
You may feel like your current position is an accident. But there are no accidents in God’s plan. Study with City Vision, clarify your calling, and be equipped to transform more lives than you’ve imagined.
To get credit for experience, first take City Vision’s Prior Learning Assessment Portfolio Development course, which uses the CAEL portfolio process. In this course you will develop a portfolio of your learning experience using a template we provide. For each subject area where you believe you should receive credit, you must identify a course at an accredited institution where you believe that you have already mastered the learning outcomes for that course. For each course that you want to receive credit for, you need to develop a specific portfolio section where you provide several pages of documentation on how you have achieved the learning outcomes of the course. A faculty member then reviews your portfolio to assess whether you have provided adequate documentation to be granted credit.
After completing this eight-week course, you will get 3 elective credits toward your degree plus the credits for any courses where you documented that you met the course outcomes through your portfolio. You have up to 3 months to submit the rest of your portfolio to get credit for additional courses where you can document learning. After the three months, you can pay $100 to have additional sections of your portfolio reviewed. Undergraduate students can receive credit for up to 25% of their degree through prior learning (30 credits for a bachelor’s or 15 credits for an associate’s) and graduate students can receive credit for up to 25% of their degree (9 credits for an MBA).
We have credit recognition partnerships with Wheeler Mission, The Urban Ministry Institute (TUMI), Third Millennium, Saylor Academy, Vision International, Harvestime Institute, Genesis Process and YWAM’s University of the Nations. If you are with an organization that would like to set up a Credit Recognition Partnership, please contact us.
For the 2024-25 year, we offer the following tuition scholarships:
Here are the steps to request a scholarship:
City Vision offers two types of partnerships with organizations.
Multi-Student Organizational Discounts. We offer a scholarship to students from any organization that refers multiple students to City Vision in a given year. The scholarship makes tuition $5,500 ($550/course) for both undergraduate and graduate programs. If an organization does not have more than one student for at least a year, that organization loses its scholarship status. If you are with an organization that would like to receive this discount, please contact us.
Credit Mapping Partnerships. City Vision sets up credit mapping articulation agreements with ministries that have high-quality ministry training that can be evaluated through our prior learning assessment process. We have credit mapping partnerships with Wheeler Mission, The Urban Ministry Institute (TUMI), Third Millennium, Saylor Academy and YWAM’s University of the Nations, among others, that work in conjunction with our prior learning process. If you are with an organization that would like to set up a Credit Mapping Partnership, please contact us.
Yes. City Vision has worked with many employers that offer tuition assistance or reimbursement.
For students whose employer will pay their full tuition, we can work with you to send your tuition invoice to your employer for them to pay directly.
For students that pay their own tuition and need reimbursement with their employer, we provide the invoices and documentation you need to get reimbursed.
City Vision believes we are among the best in the world in providing an extremely practical Christian education for those interested in Addiction Counseling and Nonprofit Management.
While state schools can provide information about counseling, City Vision will provide very practical counseling education with deep Christian integration. Similarly many state schools’ nonprofit management programs are often essentially generic business degrees, while we help our students integrate their Christian values in how they run nonprofit organizations and businesses.
Many community colleges or state schools will advertise “free” or nearly free tuition. Historically, for City Vision students that have applied for a Pell grant, 79% have qualified. For students that receive a full Pell grant, the grant will pay all your tuition making the cost to the student only the cost of books (which is similar to many community colleges or state schools).
City Vision is very focused on providing extremely practical Christian education for those interested in Addiction Counseling and Nonprofit Management. City Vision offers fewer degrees than the mega-universities, but the degrees that we do, we do very well. We like to think of ourselves similar to the family-run hardware store where staff can answer all your questions with personalized service as opposed to the big box department stores like Walmart that offer everything.
Liberty and Grand Canyon are fine schools if they are what you are looking for, but we believe we are superior for students seeking an affordable, practical education in what we teach. The following shows how we believe our strengths compare to those of Liberty and Grand Canyon:
City Vision | Liberty/Grand Canyon | |
Cost/Tuition | $8,000 per year | $12,198/$15,725 per year |
Core Competencies | Nonprofit Management & Addiction Counseling degrees, with personalized service and practical training | Hundreds of degrees, convenience that comes from scale of 100,000+ students |
History/Culture | 20+ year history of serving the poor, addicted and underserved, including partnerships with rescue missions and Salvation Army | Liberty was founded by Jerry Falwell. Grand Canyon was a for-profit school. |
Speed to Degree | Extremely flexible acceptance of transfer credit and prior learning credit | Somewhat flexible transfer credit. |
Student Recruitment | Primarily word of mouth and partnerships with 90+ rescue missions, Salvation Army, counseling centers, 500+ nonprofits and urban ministries | $100 million+ advertising campaigns |
We have never had a student who wasn’t accepted into a graduate program based on our degrees, although in some cases with state schools we have had to advocate for them.
Our alumni have been accepted into the following schools: Grand Canyon University, Bay Path University, Southwest Baptist Seminary, Fuller Seminary, California University of Pennsylvania, James Madison University, Liberty University, North Park University, Southern New Hampshire University, St Mary’s University of Twickenham, Trinity Bible College, Bakke Graduate School and AG Theological Seminary.
Ultimately the acceptance of any degree or transfer credit is up to the receiving institution.
City Vision is nationally accredited by the Distance Education Accrediting Commission (DEAC), which is recognized by the US Department of Education and CHEA. The US Department of Education does not recognize a distinction between regional and national accreditation in its standards and recently stated, “The Department does not believe…that rejecting transfer credits, an application for admission to graduate school, or a request to sit for a State occupational licensing exam on the basis of the type of Department recognized accreditation is justified.” See the US Department of Education letter on National vs. Regional Accreditation.
We have heard from a number of our students that other schools (sadly, even Christian schools) use scare tactics as a part of their sales practice, and misrepresent the significance of the distinction between national and regional accreditation.
From a Christian social justice perspective, many have called the distinction between regional and national accreditation a cartel that is a major injustice that hurts the poor. Having said that, there are those that still maintain this distinction, so we address their concerns in this section. This letter from Dr. Leah Matthews addresses some concerns about the quality of DEAC accreditation.
Functionally, our experience has been that the distinction between regional and national accreditation is primarily of importance for:
Ultimately, choosing City Vision’s national accreditation over a regionally accredited school is a question of value: you get more for your money with City Vision. If you need the “gold plating” of regional accreditation for one of the reasons described above, then it may be worth paying 2-10 times more to get a degree with regional accreditation from another school. However, because of the career choices of our students, they prefer to choose the value of City Vision rather than more expensive high-end options.
Historically, 70-80% of our alumni work in the nonprofit or ministry sector after graduation.
The others work in business with strong values that reflect strong social responsibility, Christian values and entrepreneurship.
We have had hundreds of students that have come from over 90 Gospel rescue missions.