Master of Sacred Theology (STM)

Admission

The Master of Sacred Theology (STM) degree is a second-level graduate professional degree for those who wish to pursue a year of more advanced coursework focusing on a particular discipline. The degree is not normally considered probationary for the doctorate. STM candidates withdrawing from the STM program to enter a doctoral program may not transfer STM credit if they were deemed ineligible for admission to the doctoral program at the time of their initial STM application. Only 900-level courses will be considered for transfer.

Applicants must hold a first-level graduate professional degree and have a minimum grade point average of 3.0.

Curriculum Requirements

The program requires eight semester courses or 32 credits. A minimum of five semester courses are required in the major discipline. The remaining elective courses are selected under faculty advisement, to complement the major area of study. The time limit for the degree program is two years (four semesters). For all classes a minimum grade of B– is required. No grade lower than B– is acceptable for use in satisfying the requirements for the Master of Sacred Theology degree.

If a recipient of a Tuition Scholarship: Tuition Scholarships are awarded for the academic year, September to May. They are renewable each year upon the annual evaluation of the recipient’s grade point average (see STM handbook), character, and commitment to ministry. All awards are for a maximum of one academic year of full-time STM study (see the Financial Aid section for more information on Tuition Scholarships).

All STM students are required either to pass a written, two-hour comprehensive exam or to write a thesis. The presumed culmination for all admitted STM students is the written comprehensive exam. Students who want to write a thesis must petition to do so using the STM Thesis Petition Form (Appendix A in the STM Handbook). Students must complete the petition form, which includes the signature of an advisor willing to support the thesis-writing process. Each student must submit the completed petition form, a brief proposal of the topic of the thesis (up to two pages in length), a one-page bibliography, and an academic writing sample (fewer than 20 pages) to the School of Theology Thesis Coordinator during the first semester of STM coursework. The deadline for submission of the petition form is December 5th for students who matriculate in the fall semester, and April 5th for students who matriculate in the spring semester. The Thesis Coordinator will file the request with the thesis advisor and Advanced Studies Committee. Students pursuing the thesis option may count it as equivalent to one course (4 credits) if they register for a directed study with the major advisor/professor. The thesis is graded; a minimum grade of B– is required. The thesis must be submitted to the STH Library in approved format. Please refer to the Timelines section of this site for imposed deadlines.

Further courses may be required for certain disciplines. For example, candidates in biblical studies may be expected to have at least one year of Hebrew or Greek before admission or to include it in their course of study and receive one-half the credit for the number of hours.