Blac Chyna Said She Got Her Doctorate, But The School Behind It Is Concerning

Blac Chyna posted on Instagram claiming to have received a Doctorate of Liberal Arts from an evangelical college.

For context, Chyna — whose birth name is Angela White — was baptized on her birthday in May last year. She left her multi-million dollar OnlyFans page as part of her religious journey.

This week, Chyna posted a picture of her DLA certificate, writing, “On January 17, 2023 I got my Doctorate of Liberal Arts from Sacramento Theological Seminary and Bible College. Doctor Angela Renee White.”

So, what is the Sacramento Theological Seminary and Bible College? According to their website, they provide “flexible, focused and practical education that helps our student grow deeper in God’s Word and their ministry to others.” It’s unclear how long completion of the doctorate program takes. It has previously been estimated that the average student takes eight years to get a PhD.

However, STSBC is not accredited with the Council for Higher Education Accreditation or the US Department of Education. It is accredited with Transworld Accreditation Commission, an evangelical organization, which was called a “fake college accreditation agency” by GetEducated. Its president and CEO is De’Ronald C. Bradford, who holds two doctorates from STSBC.

It’s impossible to deny that Chyna is an influential figure and her endorsement of this program matters. Tuition for a doctorate from STSBC is $10,000 — a drop in the ocean for someone who reportedly earned hundreds of millions of dollars from OnlyFans, but a lot of money to most people.

If this place is a diploma mill, then promoting it can potentially cause two big issues: 1) Earnest students can end up with, in the words of the US Department of Education, a “degree that has no value and is meaningless,” and 2) lead to self-described experts in various fields being misleading with their qualifications.

BuzzFeed has reached out to Sacramento Theological Seminary and Bible College for comment.