The curriculum contains courses taught by both resident faculty and guest lecturers. The school year is based on the quarter system,  consisting of ten weeks per quarter. A student earns a “course-of-study hour” for ten instructional hours of 50 minutes each in the classroom. There are nineteen academic hours taught each week. This involves six hours of core curriculum courses taught by our resident faculty, ten hours taught by our guest lecturer, and three hours of classroom instruction in foreign language study, consisting of either English or Hungarian. Three to four levels of language instruction are normally taught. Placement on a particular level of language study is based upon a written placement exam and quarterly progress in language study.

Students are normally expected to spend at least one hour in personal study and homework for every classroom hour of instruction. Typical homework assignments include such things as reading through the entire Bible and assigning chapter titles for each chapter, and collateral reading in such volumes as Merrill C. Tenney’s New Testament Introduction, Charles Ryrie’s Basic Theology, or Eerdman’s Handbook to the Bible. Students also do writing assignments including such things as exegetical and homiletical outlines, writing theological summaries of certain Bible books, or writing research papers.

In addition to quizzes, a comprehensive written exam is given after each guest lecturer’s time of instruction. Core curriculum courses involve comprehensive written exams, as well as oral exams in some cases. Grade point averages are calculated through a computerized program on a quarterly basis. Grade reports are issued within three weeks of the end of each quarter. Our grades for American students are classified as follows:

A94 - 100%
B+90 - 93%
B85 - 89%
C+80 - 84%
C75 - 79%
D+70 - 74%
D65 - 69%
Fless than 65%

Students can be placed on a High Honor List (for a GPA of at least 3.5 for the quarter) or Honors List (for a GPA of at least 3.0 for the quarter). Students can also be placed on academic probation if their cumulative grade point average falls below 2.0 or 1.5 for a quarter, or if they fail a course. Such students are assigned additional required study time, limited in their off-campus activities and subject to weekly meetings with a tutor.

Students must meet the following criteria to graduate with a Word of Life Diploma:
1) They must have a cumulative grade point average of at least 2.0;
2) They must successfully complete all course and ministry requirements; 
3) They must be in agreement with the Word of Life Statement of Faith;
4) They must sign a repayment agreement for any outstanding school bills.