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After losing its accreditation to confer four-year bachelor degrees, Haverhill’s Northpoint Bible College is changing its name and turning its attention to a three-year diploma and certificate programs in Christian studies.
Rev. Tiff Shuttlesworth, Northpoint’s president, said in a video posted on social media the school will become known as Northpoint School of the Bible. It just recently accepted 49 students from a Pentecostal denomination in Kenya who will be traveling to the U.S. to attend the school in the fall. Another 80 from the group will be taking classes online. At the same time, the school is cutting tuition from $25,000 a year to $7,700—and $4,500 for those who attend online.
“It makes training for ministry available for everybody that God calls,” Shuttlesworth said. “No one legitimately called by God should be turned away from preparation for their ministry gift by financial inability,” he said, noting spouses of online students may take courses for just $1,000.
Shuttlesworth added his Lost Lamb Evangelistic Association is offering scholarships to 50 students.
The president also said students who complete three years at Northpoint will be able to complete a bachelor’s degree at eight other institutions, Gordon College in Wenham among them, through “articulation” agreements.
The Association of Biblical Higher Education Commission on Accreditation formally cancelled the college’s accreditation this past April 24, after the college was unsuccessful in its appeal. This followed a notice from the Massachusetts Department of Higher Education in 2024 that it could not confirm the college had “sufficient resources to sustain operations at current levels and substantially fulfill its obligations to enrolled and admitted students for both the current and the subsequent academic year.”
In a 2024 interview with WHAV Shuttlesworth, blamed declining enrollment as well as expenses associated with maintaining aging buildings on its Bradford campus for much of its financial woes, particularly its iconic Denworth Hall. In 2019, a previous president placed renovation costs for Denworth Hall alone at $10 to $20 million.
The accreditation council allowed seniors who graduated in May to consider their degrees from an accredited institution. In addition, three graduate students and three undergrads were given permission to complete their degrees by Aug. 31 under the former accreditation.
Under the new model, the school will offer a one-year online ministerial preparation certificate in theology and ministry. Three-year, 90-hour degree programs will be offered in Bible study, evangelism, pastoral ministry, new-gen ministry and missions.
The school could have chosen to operate without accreditation, but students could become ineligible for federal financial aid and degrees might not be accepted by employers or graduate programs.
Northpoint was founded in 1924 as Zion Bible College in East Providence, R.I. to prepare students for the Pentecostal ministry. It moved to the 18-acre Bradford campus, once home of Bradford College, in 2008.