The seminary offers professional and graduate degree programs for candidates for ministry, and to those pursuing careers in academia or non-theological fields.

It was established to fill a need for theological education on the (then) western frontier of the Reformed Church in America.

Albertus van Raalte founded Hope College in Holland Michigan; believing that parents had a primary responsibility to educate their children and not the state.

[3] In 2022, the seminary became independent, though retains a relation to the Reformed Church in America, the denomination that gave it life and sustenance for over 150 years.

The seminary is accredited by the Association of Theological Schools in the United States and Canada (ATS).