About exams & diplomas

For those of you who would like a reminder of your diligent studies of our courses, we offer optional exams to receive diplomas in two ways: free downloadable & printable electronic (PDF), and in-house printed for a small fee—both suitable for framing.

Each course’s exam covers the breadth of the material, giving you opportunity to refresh your mind and be sure you understood the fundamentals of each lesson. The exams are open book: you may reference the course material while you take the exam.

Notice: Our courses are not secularly accredited, and these diplomas do not give degrees. If you are applying to schools that count non-accredited lessons toward their requirements, you are welcome to point them to our website so they can see what you have studied. Logged-in students can download an unofficial Student Transcript (study record) from the Student Area— a college-style summary of registrations, exams, and diplomas. We provide teaching from the Word of God to help prepare you for Christian life.

How the exam works

• Register for the course and wait until it is fulfilled (online access granted or printed materials mailed).
• Wait 7 full days after both registration and fulfillment before viewing or taking the exam (use that time to study thoroughly).
• Preferred: take the exam online for immediate grading. Incorrect answers include brief explanations and relevant course page numbers.
• Alternate: download a printable PDF exam, complete it by hand, and mail it to us for manual grading by our dean (slower; use only if you cannot take the exam online).
• Passing score is 70%. Unanswered questions count as incorrect. Below that, you may retake after another 7 full days.
• Online attempts can be saved and resumed later without losing answers (while the attempt remains open).

Mailing address for printed exams / fees: Gospel Truth Ministries, P.O. Box 1885, Cincinnati, OH 45201-1885, USA.

If you score 70% or above on an exam, you are eligible to receive a diploma for that course.

Electronic diplomas (PDF)

Electronic diplomas are granted automatically when a student scores a passing grade. We print only your full name (no titles or degrees). They are issued free of charge and are available immediately after a passing score—use the links in your exam status above (or Student Area) to view or download the PDF. Save a copy for your records; most devices can open PDFs with a free reader (e.g. Foxit or Adobe Acrobat Reader).

In-house printed diplomas

Our printed diplomas are issued on special parchment-style, 8.5×11" paper, with a gold foil seal stamped with our ministry’s name and location on the lower left. We use only your full name (no titles or degrees).

We request a small fee of US$10 (historically about US$15 for many international addresses, to cover packing and postage) simply to cover diploma printing, packing materials, and postage.

Once the fee is received, your request is added to our queue. Please allow up to 4–6 weeks for issuance and mailing depending on ministry schedule; often we send within a week or two. Transit time varies from a few days to several weeks or months depending on where you live.

If you register for the next course right away, we will often wait for you to complete that course and its exam as well, sending the printed diplomas together to save on postage/packing (unless you ask us to send them immediately).

Overseas students who cannot use a cashier’s check or PayPal may use MoneyGram or Western Union payable to “Joseph Kostelnik” in “Cincinnati, Ohio, USA”, then email us the confirmation number and your exam ID so we can apply the fee.