Purpose Institute students vary in age and ministry experience. Some are starting classes during high school and are already actively involved in their churches' ministries. Others are more mature leaders who are among the top influencers in their local churches. Some will go on to seek ministerial license while others never intend to minister on that level. We have preachers and pastors attending classes and young people who are fresh explorers of their futures. Women make up a significant part of our student population. The median age in our demographic is 29—which demonstrates that many of our students are leaders who are wanting a solid foundation of Bible knowledge and leadership training to conduct their already emerging ministries.

Purpose Institute is a weekend college. It is unique because of that structure. The one-weekend per month format allows students with busy schedules of work, family, and church the opportunity to invest in ministry training.

Each of the 8 weekends in the school year consists of 11 classroom hours of training. It is a four-year curriculum with two-year and four-year diplomas. Local campuses are usually held in a designated church facility. At the conclusion of each weekend, the student is encouraged to go back to his or her home church and immediately put into practice what he or she has learned. Homework is completed between monthly sessions, and testing concludes the semester.

There are three to four campus instructors who maintain the teaching schedule. These instructors are selected by the local Campus Dean to teach subjects in line with their gift areas. The Campus Dean supervises all the activity of the campus and ensures that students and instructors stay on track and maintain Purpose Institute standards of excellence.

Guest speakers to the campus bring their expertise into the three-hour Friday night Leadership and Pastoral Studies training sessions (generally 7:00-10:00 P.M. in North America). Saturday classes begin around 8:00 A.M. and end around 4:20 P.M. with a lunch break at noon. In North America, classes begin in August or September and finish in April.

Prior to class, students need to register. Registration is done on-line when possible but can also be completed by the local Campus Administrator. The Campus Administrator is available to assist students with the website and to answer technical and other questions.

Students retrieve their course notes from the Purpose Institute website or pay a fee for the local administrator to print them. Using a log-in and password that are set up when they register, they can also access their student records and check their account status. Purpose Institute’s website is not intended for use in typical online training for students (although online training is part of our long-term goals). The website is simply the administrative hub for all of the local campuses (all training is live training by local leaders). The website is also the place where student records, registration, curriculum, and the various administrative functions are housed. A campus can function anywhere in the world with minimal administrative effort when there is access to the Internet.

Each course has an associated textbook, homework, review questions and a final exam. Textbooks are to be read, studied, and added to the student’s library of knowledge to reference when future needs arise. Course instructors take attendance, assign and grade homework, conduct a final exam, and assign grades accordingly.

Students receive a two-year and four-year diploma . Graduations acknowledge the accomplishments of the student body at the end of each training year.