Statement of Accreditation

THE WESTERN ORTHODOX UNIVERSITY IS NOT ACCREDITED BY AN ACCREDITING AGENCY RECOGNIZED BY THE UNITED STATES SECRETARY OF EDUCATION.

As a religious institution, the Western Orthodox University is not required to obtain accreditation in order to award degrees, diplomas and certificates. Accreditation is a purely voluntary process for religious institutions such as the University. The University believes that its religious and academic standards are best preserved through maintaining its independence from political control and in upholding the constitutional separation of Church and State.

In the United States, many licensing authorities require accredited degrees as the basis for eligibility for licensing. In some cases, accredited colleges may not accept for transfer courses and degrees completed at unaccredited colleges, and some employers may require an accredited degree as a basis for eligibility for employment.

Current authority to grant degrees

The University awards religious degrees on the basis of the statutory authority and religious exemption from licensing contained in Hawaii Revised Statutes Chapter 305J-3(7) and Hawaii Administrative Rules, Title 16, Chapter 255-3. It is owned, controlled, operated, and maintained by The Apostolic Episcopal Church through its religious nonprofit Hawaii corporation The Primate and Presiding Bishop of the Apostolic Episcopal Church, A Corporation Sole. The registered address of the corporation is as follows:

The Primate and Presiding Bishop of the Apostolic Episcopal Church, A Corporation Sole,
1001 Bishop St, Suite 2685A,
Honolulu, Hawaii 96813
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

All degrees, diplomas and certificates are purely religious in nature and are designed to prepare students for religious vocations. The University does not award secular degrees. No formal system of majors or minors is used by the University although a degree can be awarded with a particular concentration (for example Pastoral Ministry or Apologetics).

The Apostolic Episcopal Church (of which the Western Orthodox University is an integrated auxiliary), has mandatory tax exemption under 26 US Code 508(c)(1)(A) and donations to it are tax deductible under 26 US Code 170(b)(1)(A)(i).

Further degree-granting authority

The University is a religious exempt institution with the statutory authority to grant degrees in several other states of the United States. Please note that the scope of these additional authorities may be more restricted than the University’s religious exempt status in Hawaii and not all degrees may be eligible.

• Arizona: Arizona Revised Statutes A.R.S. § 32-3022(E): This section does not apply to religious degrees which are used solely for religious purposes within a religious organization which has tax exempt status from the internal revenue service.
• Montana: Board of Regents Policy no 221 – § 20-25-107, MCA does not apply to (1) religious institutions that are owned, controlled, operated and maintained by a religious organization lawfully operating as a nonprofit religious corporation and that award only religious degrees or certificates, and Title 35 section 600.9 of the Code of Federal Regulations – An institution is considered to be legally authorized to operate educational programs beyond secondary education if it is exempt as a religious institution from State authorization under the State constitution or by State law.
• South Dakota: Chapter 13-48-41 of the South Dakota Codified Laws – exemption from licensing for a postsecondary institution established or owned, controlled, operated, and maintained by a religious organization lawfully operating as a nonprofit religious corporation and awarding only religious degrees or certificates for the purpose of conferring clerical status or authority within that religion.

The University holds further exemptions from state licensing of postsecondary institutions in other states on the basis of having no physical presence in the state concerned.

Foundation and originating religious status

The founding Charter of the Western Orthodox Academy, issued on 1 August 1945, defined its authority as issuing directly from the powers inherent in the Chancellor as Catholicos of the Catholicate of the West as a fully autocephalous Orthodox and Catholic communion. These powers originate firstly in the commission to Mar Julius of Iona (Jules Raimond Ferrette) (1828-1904) on 2 June 1866 (Old Style) as Bishop of Iona and its dependencies by the Syrian Orthodox Church, and in the subsequent erection by Mar Julius of a British Patriarchate on 6 March 1874, united with the Catholicate of the West since 29 January 1945. Secondly, they originate in the acts of the Council of London of 17 October 1943, which established the Ancient Orthodox Catholic Church as the continuation of the Western extensions of the Syrian Orthodox Church. The Western Orthodox Catholic Church, having been formed by a Deed of Declaration on 23 March 1944, was then erected by the Patriarch of Antioch of the Ancient Orthodox Catholic Church into the Catholicate of the West. The Charter of the Western Orthodox Academy was issued by the Catholicos of the West on 1 August 1945. Subsequently, the Western Orthodox Academy was renamed the Western Orthodox University.

It may therefore be seen that the Western Orthodox University did not owe its foundation to any civil power or secular government, but was established purely on ecclesiastical authority. However, legal and regulatory developments since 1945 have meant that while the religious authority of its foundation has not at any point been rejected, the Western Orthodox University has been compelled to seek and obtain additional secular authority to grant degrees. It will be noted that the present legal position of the University is essentially the same as that of its foundation in that its degrees continue to be granted directly by its Chancellor in his religious capacity, organized as a church corporation sole.

Past authorities of the Western Orthodox University

The University has obtained the status of an incorporated body, thus gaining secular authority for its grant of degrees and related academic activities, on four occasions during its history. The first such incorporation was on 20 February 1950 in India, under Act XXI of 1860 (registration no. 5/1950), and the second on 6 August 1977 in California, USA (corporation 213240). Both corporations are now inactive.

Between 2015 and 2019, the University was incorporated with degree-granting authority in the Commonwealth of Dominica.

Between July 2020 and December 2025, the University held religious exempt status in the State of Florida, USA.

Recognition

The University has a full relationship of reciprocal partnership, recognition and accreditation with the historic Pontificia Accademia Tiberina in Rome, Italy, founded in 1813 and recognized by the Sacred Congregation of Studies under Pope Leo XII in 1825. The University is also accredited by the Anglican Association of Colleges and Schools, the umbrella body for the educational institutions of the Catholicate of the West and the Apostolic Episcopal Church, and holds a number of other recognition agreements.

>>Recognition