Providing radically affordable
online education
to those serving
the poor, the addicted, and the underserved.
What We Do
Transforming Christian Higher Educational Systems
by Pioneering Radically Affordable Educational Models for the Poor and Developing World
Statistics with Nonprofits and Ministries
What Makes City Vision Unique
All we do centers on training Christians who serve the poor, the addicted, and the underserved. We exist to help multiply the effectiveness of a movement of Christians serving these groups, not to be another Christian university. We are unique because most of our students would not have been served if we did not exist. We are a ministry that runs a school, not a school that happens to be a nonprofit.
We are a global thought leader in disruptive innovation, presenting at gatherings of educational leaders around the world. We are pioneering a new model of higher education that could increase access to Christian higher education by tenfold or more, especially to the poor and the developing world.
Most degrees equipping Christians serve the poor now are only affordable to the upper middle class & the wealthy. This is only getting worse and will significantly affect the leadership pipeline for Christians serving the poor if this is not addressed. Our model enables our tuition to be about half of other Christian colleges.
We are doing this because we see the global opportunity for Christian higher education is great, yet many Christian schools are struggling to survive. While traditional schools are locked into a model that is unsustainable, City Vision and its partners have the freedom to innovate with the affordability that can reach the nations.
Recognition and Awards
Profile on City Vision President
Andrew Sears
City Vision/TechMission
Case Study
US Department of Education
Innovation Award Finalist
edX, Google & others.
Innovation Award Special Recognition
Thought Leadership in Disruptive Innovation
Article on City Vision Partnership
History of City Vision and TechMission
City Vision has roots and history that span rescue missions, Christian community development, the Salvation Army, evangelical ministries, Christian recovery and the Black church traditions. All of these traditions inform our values and core organizational DNA. We also have a rich history of innovation from our leadership’s involvement in co-founding a MIT research group with one of the fathers of the Internet, involvement in the 90’s dot-com boom and leading disruptive innovation in higher education today. City Vision University today represents a merger of Rescue College, once a program of the Association of Gospel Rescue Missions, and the parachurch ministry, TechMission (as described below).
1998
City Vision is founded as the
education arm of AGRM
called Rescue College.
2002
TechMission is founded out of a Black church ministry, PREP, and the Christian Community Development Association movement and develops a partnership network of 500+ education programs in urban ministries.
2005
Rescue College is accredited by the Distance Education Accrediting Commission with a Bachelor’s degree completion program in Missions.
2007
TechMission launches UrbanMinistry.org and ChristianVolunteering.org which grow to have 100,000+ open educational resources and become the third most visited website among Christian organizations serving the poor.
2008
Rescue College becomes a part of the Christian nonprofit TechMission and is renamed City Vision College.
2015
City Vision College starts
offering graduate
programs and becomes
City Vision University.
2016
City Vision’s leadership co-founds the Christian Higher Education Innovation Alliance with 100+ leaders with the vision of expanding Christian higher education to the poor and developing world.
2019
City Vision launches free, non-credit Massive
Open Online Courses in Education Management
with over 7,000 students.
Our Partners
Scholarship Partner
Scholarship & Credit Partner
Scholarship & Credit Partner
Scholarship Partner
Scholarship & Credit Partner
Scholarship & Credit Partner
Scholarship & Credit Partner
Scholarship & Credit Partner
Scholarship & Credit Partner
Scholarship & Credit Partner
Scholarship Partner
Our Mission is to transform lives through Jesus, Justice and Technology.
01
Jesus
City Vision was initially founded to provide online Christian education to staff at evangelical organizations serving the poor as well as their program participants. While this still remains a core focus, we have since expanded to also provide Christian education to students pursuing nonprofit and counseling careers. See our Statement of Faith.
02
Justice
We promote Justice through radically affordable, practical education focused on addressing the needs of the poor, addicted and underserved.
03
Technology
We use Technology in our cost-effective, disruptive innovation, lean startup approach to online education. We are pioneering a new model that could increase access to Christian higher education by tenfold or more, especially to the poor and the developing world.
What is the relationship between City Vision and TechMission?
City Vision University today represents a merger of Rescue College (once a program of the Association of Gospel Rescue Missions) and TechMission. City Vision University legally is a “doing business as name” of the 501(c)(3) nonprofit ministry, TechMission. They are essentially the same organization with the same staff, board, finances, etc. TechMission previously had programs other than City Vision, but now it is essentially our only program. TechMission is incorporated in Massachusetts, whereas City Vision University is based out of Kansas City, Missouri.
Find Out More
Goal 1: Christian Social Service Education: to provide affordable, practical education enabling Christian leaders to transform the lives of the poor, addicted and underserved with continuous innovation.
Goal 2: Radically Affordable and Free Education: to use disruptive innovation to provide free educational content and radically affordable programs to diffuse innovation and best practices for Christians serving the poor and increase our global presence.
Goal 3: Human Capacity: to recruit and develop faculty and staff so they can provide effective education to our students, further our mission and pursue their own calling.
Goal 4: System Capacity: to provide effective accounting, finance, technology and administrative support to City Vision University’s programs and services in a way that reflects our values and achieves our mission.
Goal 5: Financial Capacity: to secure significantly increased resources and expanded enrollment enabling City Vision to add new programs, expand existing programs and further our mission.
- We believe the Bible to be the inspired, the only infallible, authoritative Word of God and through it we are called to live out justice, reconciliation and redemption. We believe that there is one God, eternally existent in three persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
- We believe in the deity of our Lord Jesus Christ in His virgin birth, in His sinless life, in His miracles, in His vicarious and atoning death through His shed blood, in His bodily resurrection, in His ascension to the right hand of the Father, and in His personal return in power and glory.
- We believe that for the salvation of lost and sinful man, regeneration by the Holy Spirit is absolutely essential and that the church nurtures God’s people gathered as a community to carry out God’s Word.
- We believe in the present ministry of the Holy Spirit by whose indwelling the Christian is enabled to live a godly life.
- We believe in the resurrection of both the saved and the lost; they that are saved unto the resurrection of life and they that are lost unto the resurrection of damnation.
- We believe in the spiritual unity of believers in our Lord Jesus Christ.