Accreditation
Is Anew University an accredited institution?
Anew University is not regionally accredited. However, we maintain high academic and ethical standards in every program we offer. Our curriculum is developed with great care to be both biblically grounded and practically effective, ensuring that students gain real, usable skills—not just information.
Traditional universities often emphasize theory and academic analysis, which can be valuable but do not always translate into meaningful change for clients. At Anew University, we focus on practical, skill-based training that equips you to begin helping others immediately. Our programs are designed to create transformation in your own life and in the lives of those you serve.
For many, returning to a traditional college environment is not the best fit at this stage in life. Our accelerated, affordable, and Christ-centered programs provide high-impact education without the burden of years of academic coursework.
Anew University is not affiliated with secular coaching organizations such as the ICF or IAC. (See ICF Clarification section below.)
Since our inception in August 2003, we have trained and certified thousands of graduates on every continent, who are now changing the world by serving in churches, ministries, counseling centers, schools, and private practices worldwide.
Today is the best day
to BEGIN ANEW.
Are ICF Credentials a Sufficient Measure of Excellence in Authentic Christian Coaching?
When people research Christian coach training programs, one of the first questions they ask is: Is it ICF-accredited? It sounds like a reasonable question. ICF — the International Coaching Federation — is widely recognized in the professional coaching world, and accreditation signals credibility.
But here is the question we rarely ask: Is ICF accreditation actually the right measuring stick for a Christian coaching program?
The answer, when examined honestly, is no. And understanding why matters — both for aspiring Christian coaches and for anyone evaluating the integrity of a training program.
ICF Has Value. Just Not Here.
Let's be clear from the start: ICF is not wrong. It has an established place in the secular coaching industry and provides a recognized framework for professional coaching competencies. This is not an argument against ICF's value in the world it was designed for.
The issue is that ICF is not the appropriate measure of excellence for a Christian coach training program — because the two models are built on fundamentally different foundations.
ICF, in its most authentic form, is intentionally secular, client-led, and non-directive. The coach's role is to evoke the client's own awareness, partner with the client's self-determined goals, and facilitate growth according to the client's own values and direction.
Christian coaching, in its most authentic form, is Christ-centered, Scripture-informed, Spirit-led, and concerned with transformation that goes beyond personal goals or professional outcomes. The coach's role is to help the client discern calling, grow in truth, align with God's direction, and experience biblically grounded transformation.
These are not variations on the same theme. They operate from different authorities, different foundations, and different definitions of what transformation even means.
Two Different Questions
The clearest way to see the distinction is to look at the core question each model is trying to answer.
ICF asks: "How do we help the client move forward according to the client's own goals and awareness?"
Christian coaching asks: "How do we help the client grow, decide, heal, and move forward in alignment with God's truth and direction?"
Those questions are related. But they are not the same. One centers the client. The other centers Christ. And a training program built around one question cannot be fully measured by the other's standards.
The Trade-Off No One Talks About
Here is what the ICF accreditation conversation consistently leaves out: an ICF-accredited Christian program has to operate within the limits of ICF's coaching philosophy.
ICF's core competencies emphasize client autonomy, evoking awareness, partnering with the client, and facilitating the client's own growth. Those are useful coaching skills. But they do not make room for Christian coaching as a distinct theological and spiritual category.
That means the more faithfully a program conforms to ICF standards, the more it must restrain the very things that make Christian coaching distinctly Christian:
- Biblical authority
- Spirit-led discernment
- Prayerful direction
- Conviction and truth-telling
- Calling and obedience
- Repentance and spiritual maturity
- Alignment with God's will
These are not add-ons or enhancements to an otherwise neutral coaching model. In authentic Christian coaching, they are the foundation. They are not elements you layer on top of ICF competencies. They are the reason Christian coaching exists at all.
When a program must minimize or bracket these elements to satisfy ICF requirements, something essential has been lost — not gained.
Professional Coaching in a Christian Environment Is Not the Same Thing
An ICF-accredited Christian coaching program is best understood as professional coaching taught in a Christian-friendly environment. That has genuine value for certain audiences and purposes.
But it is not the same as fully Christian coach training — where Scripture, spiritual discernment, and Christ-centered transformation are the methodology itself, not the backdrop.
The distinction matters because students deserve to know what they are actually enrolling in. If you are called to help people discern God's direction for their lives, walk through spiritual transformation, and grow in alignment with biblical truth — you need training that was built for exactly that. Not training that was built for something else and adjusted to feel more Christian.
The Real Credibility Markers in Christian Coaching
If ICF accreditation is not the right measuring tool, what is? In the Christian coaching space, the meaningful credibility signals are:
Biblical integrity of the curriculum. Is the content genuinely Spirit-led, or is it secular coaching methodology with Scripture sprinkled in? Does the Word of God inform the method, or merely accompany it?
Transformation depth. Are students and their clients experiencing real, lasting life change — not just goal achievement? Is the fruit of the training evident in transformed lives?
Founder authority and track record. Who built this program, and what has it produced over time? How many lives have been changed, and by whose testimony?
Community and ongoing support. Is there a living, active graduate community? Are coaches continuing to grow, connect, and be supported after certification?
Niche specificity. Spirit-led Christian life coaching requires a depth of transformation that generic coaching frameworks simply do not reach. The more specific the calling, the more the training must be built to match it.
These are the questions that reveal whether a Christian coaching program is genuinely equipped to do what Christian coaching is actually called to do.
Why Anew University Does Not Pursue ICF Accreditation
At Anew University, the decision not to pursue ICF accreditation is not an oversight, a budget decision, or a gap in our credibility. It is a conviction.
Dr. Leelo Bush pioneered Spirit-led Christian life coach training in 2003 — before most programs in this space existed. Over more than two decades, she has trained tens of thousands of coaches worldwide using a curriculum built entirely on biblical foundations, Spirit-led methodology, and the conviction that genuine transformation comes through Christ, not merely through skilled conversation.
To seek ICF accreditation would require conforming that curriculum to a secular framework that was never designed to measure it — and in doing so, restraining the very elements that have produced the transformation our graduates carry into the world.
ICF standards were never designed to reach where authentic Christian coaching goes. That is not a weakness. That is the point.
The Right Question
When you are evaluating a Christian coach training program, the question is not whether it carries ICF accreditation. The question is whether it was built to equip you for the work God is actually calling you to do.
If your worldview and work involve Christ-centered, Spirit-led, Scripture-grounded transformation — you need training that was built from that foundation, not adapted to it.
That is what Anew University was built to provide.
ICF Credentials — An Important Clarification
Anew University programs are not traditional coach-training programs as defined by the International Coaching Federation (ICF).
Our certifications are built on proprietary, integrative transformation systems developed by Dr. Leelo Bush through more than 22 years of leadership, curriculum design, and practitioner training. These programs go far beyond communication-based coaching models and include structured frameworks, neuroscience-informed tools, faith-aligned principles, and guided change processes designed for real-world application and measurable outcomes.
Because of this depth and structure, ICF accreditation would not accurately reflect the scope, rigor, or true value of our training. In fact, aligning with ICF’s non-directive “pure coaching” requirements would require us to remove or restrict essential components that make our programs effective, comprehensive, and results-driven.
For this reason, ICF accreditation and ICF CEUs are not relevant benchmarks for Anew University certifications.
As a result, there is no ICF-accredited program—Christian or secular—that offers this level of integrated training, particularly for those who want to work meaningfully in transformation-focused roles rather than remain within a narrow coaching-only framework.
Choosing the Right Path
This creates a clear and important decision point:
- If your primary goal is to accumulate ICF CEUs or pursue ICF credentialing, an ICF-aligned program—regardless of specialty or worldview—may be the better fit.
- If your goal is to receive comprehensive, faith-aligned, and application-ready training that equips you with structured methods, practical tools, and deep transformational skills, Anew University programs are intentionally designed for that purpose.
Both paths are valid.
They simply serve very different outcomes.
Our Beautiful Life International Family of Schools and Programs:
PCCCA - Professional Christian Coaching & Counseling Academy
Grief Coach University
Group Coaching Facilitator
Essential Oil Academy
Anew University was built to provide you a transformational education that will build your faith, support your gifts and talents and increase your abilities to serve others.
We are based Southwest Florida, near the Gulf of America, with team members and faculty in other geographic areas.
Leelo Bush PhD
Anew University, led by its president, Dr. Leelo Bush, provides a variety of professional training and certification programs in behavioral studies and health and wellness, with a focus on practical education and career applications. Learn more about Dr. Bush here.
Her goal is to prepare you for your desired profession with deep, experiential knowledge as well as wisdom and practical skills.
Anew University will prepare you for the opportunities that may have otherwise escaped your grasp. With a holistic, transformational approach, you will grow personally as you develop the skills to make a positive impact on the lives of others. Your capacity to create change in your sphere will increase as you grow both personally and professionally. Want to expand your territory? Now is your time and this is the place.
Begin Anew!
Anew University grew from a need to create a centralized platform for the variety of curriculum created by Dr. Leelo Bush.
As you research the individual programs available you see where your goals will be advanced by one or more of our programs.
You’ll find current course offerings HERE. Enrollment is open now. Why not begin Anew today?