• Access the online application portal here!
• There is a $95 non-refundable application fee for all programs, which can be paid by credit card within the online application system.

• Transcripts listing all prior academic credits earned at the college or university level must be uploaded to the application portal.
• In the online application, under the “Supporting Information” square, you will click on the “documents” section. Here you will be able to upload a digital copy of all of your transcripts using the “Any Additional Supporting Document” link.
• The online application system limits the size of your uploaded document. For this reason we recommend uploading each institution’s transcript separately as a PDF, if you attended more than one institution.
• Please see below this chart for Frequently Asked Questions about transcripts.
• Please note that all PhD applicants must have a previous theological master’s degree, such as the MDiv or its equivalent.

• Letters of reference allow those who have engaged with you in academic, personal, and professional settings to give the Admissions Committee a glimpse into your character and preparedness for graduate theological education.
• Strong letters of reference will be from former professors, supervisors, or mentors who can speak in detailed ways about the contributions you would make to the Boston University School of Theology community, and how STH might contribute to empowering you to reach your personal and professional goals.
• Letters of reference should, wherever possible, be presented on formal letterhead with all relevant contact information for your referrer listed.
  • MDiv, OMDiv, and MSM Applicants:
    • One Pastoral Reference: Reference may be from a pastor, ecclesiastical superior, or denominational administrator. In the case of an applicant who is not connected with a faith community, a general character reference from a colleague, mentor, or professor may be substituted for the pastoral reference.
    • Two Academic References: Two of your references should be from a previous college professor, academic advisor, or Dean/President. If you have been out of college for a number of years, you may substitute work supervisors, colleagues, or other appropriate persons for academic references.
  • MTS, STM, & PhD Applicants:
    • Your three academic references may be from a previous college or seminary professor, academic advisor, or Dean/President. You may choose to have one professional reference in exchange for an academic reference if that person can speak to your abilities as a scholar, researcher, or teacher.
  • DMin Applicants:
    • One Pastoral Reference – Reference may be from a pastoral colleague, ecclesiastical superior, or denominational administrator (In the case of an applicant who is not connected with a church, a general character reference from a colleague, mentor, professor, or church member may be substituted for the pastoral reference.)
    • One Reference from a parishioner or someone who has experienced your ministry – The goal of this reference is to have a sense of your ministerial work from someone you have cared for, worked alongside, and/or served in some way.
    • One Academic Reference – Reference may be from a previous college or seminary professor, academic advisor, or Dean/President. If you have been out of school for a number of years you may substitute work supervisors, colleagues, or other appropriate persons for this academic reference

• Your personal statement should guide the Admissions Committee to understand how your vocational, personal, and/or spiritual goals align with the mission of Boston University School of Theology and should speak to how your life journey has prepared you to engage in graduate-level theological education.
• The Admissions Committee also reviews personal statements to evaluate the strength of an applicant’s voice as a writer and their compositional skills. For this reason, applicants should refrain from using large-language models or other artificial intelligence writing tools to generate their essays. (Spell and grammar checkers are encouraged, but the bulk of the personal statement must be composed in the applicant’s voice.)
• Essays written in an applicant’s unique authorial voice will receive better reviews than even the most polished AI generated essays.
• Lastly, the personal statement is a chance to show the Admissions Committee a bit of your unique character. Don’t be afraid to be yourself (though still with strong grammar and essay structure)!
  • Master’s program applicants answer the following question:
    • In 500 words that reflect your authorial voice, tells us about your vocational journey thus far and discuss why you believe pursuing this degree at Boston University School of Theology is the right next step for you.
      • (Note: Vocation here can mean more than just your job or career. It invites discussion of your sense of calling or purpose.)
  • All doctoral program applicants answer the following question:
    • In a statement of 1,500 words, please describe your goals in undertaking doctoral study in your given field, including an indication, even if only general at this point, of your proposed focus and research. Also, how have your experience and study to this point helped prepare you for this doctoral program and your proposed research focus?
  • Note for Transfer Students:
    • Applicants seeking to transfer from another institution must include in their personal statement the reasons they are seeking a transfer, and must upload a recently-issued letter of good standing from their previous institution to the online application. Please see the “Transfer Students” section below.

• In lieu of a writing sample, all MDiv, OMDiv, & MTS applicants to the School of Theology are asked to write a 500 word application essay in response to a prompt provided by the STH Admissions Committee.
• The Admissions Committee views the application essay as a chance for applicants to demonstrate their compositional skills, showcase their unique authorial voice, and speak to their willingness to learn and adapt in challenging academic environments.
• Like the personal statement, application essays should be entirely an applicant’s unique composition. Therefore, applicants must refrain from generating their application essays using artificial intelligence writing tools. (Applicants should exercise and demonstrate sound judgment on discerning the line between grammar-check tools and text-generation tools.)
  • All MDiv, OMDiv, & MTS program applicants are asked to write a 500 word essay in response to the following prompt:
    
    • Engaging in graduate-level theological education can be a challenging endeavor; expanding your intellectual and spiritual horizons may be equal parts exhilarating and disorienting.As such, the STH Admissions Committee would like to learn more about your experience engaging similar challenges in the past.
    • In 500 words that reflect your authorial voice, tell a story about a time you encountered a challenging idea in an academic or professional setting. How did you handle this experience and what did you learn from it?

• In nearly all cases, English is the language of instruction for classes at the School of Theology.
• To ensure students are prepared to succeed in an academic environment that assumes students possess graduate-school English proficiency, the School of Theology requires international students for whom English is not a native language to submit an IELTS,  TOEFL or Duolingo English Test (DET) score taken within the past two years.
  • The required minimum scores are:
    • TOEFL (For exams taken prior to January 21, 2026):
      • IBT (internet-based test): 89, with at least 22 in each of the four areas
      • CBT (computer-based test): 230
      • PBT (paper-based test): 570
    • TOEFL (For exams taken after January 21, 2026):
      • 4.5 (Component scores will also be evaluated. We require scores be relatively consistent across all criteria.)
    • IELTs: Minimum necessary score is a 6.5.
    • Duolingo English Test (DET):
      • MDiv & MTS Applicants: 115
      • PhD & DMin Applicants: 130

• All standardized tests must be received directly from the testing organization (ex. Educational Testing Service)
• Applicants should request that the testing organization forward a copy of their scores to Boston University’s code: 3087.
• NOTE: If you have completed a previous academic degree in English, you can have your institution’s Registrar Office send a letter to the Enrollment Office (sthadmis@bu.edu) confirming that the medium of instruction was English. This will allow you to have the English proficiency requirement waived.

• Your current resume or curriculum vitae should include your previous education, relevant work history, volunteer or service work, and any additional information you would like the Admissions Committee to know about your background. 

• PhD applicants’ writing samples should not exceed 30 pages in length. Feel free to excerpt from a larger work or thesis, including an abstract of the entire piece and a brief explanation of how the sampled section fits into the larger project. 
• DMin applicants’ writing samples should not exceed 10 pages in length, and should be scholarly in nature, rather than a sermon-style piece. It should include a bibliography and reflect the applicant’s ability to do solid independent research in their field of interest. Feel free to excerpt from a larger work or thesis, including an abstract of the entire piece and an indication that the sample is an excerpt from the whole.

• A scan or photocopy of your paper transcript, which was sent to you by the Registrar of your institution
• An unofficial transcript that you downloaded yourself from your institution’s online student information or learning system.
• Unofficial transcripts are sufficient for the STH Admissions Committee to review an applicant’s file for admission. Admitted students, however, will be required to submit official transcripts directly from their institution to the School of Theology to confirm their matriculation.

• Official transcripts must sent directly from your previous institution to Boston University School of Theology. (If the document passes through your hands or email inbox before it reaches the Admissions Office, it cannot be considered official in most cases.)
• Schools may deliver official transcripts to Boston University School of Theology through a digital delivery service (such as Parchment), through email directly from the institution’s registrar’s office to sthadmis@bu.edu, or via sealed envelop in the mail.

• If your final transcript (the transcript that shows or will show your graduation from that degree) includes the following four items then you do not need to provide a separate transcript from the previous institution. Your one final transcript would suffice.
  1. name of the transfer institution (ex. Africa University)
  2. semester in which each course was taken (ex. Spring 2016)
  3. the names of each course (ex. “Introduction to Philosophy”)
  4. the grades you received in each of your transferred courses
• If your final transcript does not include all of the above information (ex. if your transfer courses are marked on your final transcript as “pass” with no letter grade) then you will need to provide an unofficial copy of your transcript from the institution from which you transferred.

• Probably not. If the institution you attended can provide a transcript in English that includes the full names of each course and the grades received then you do not have to complete the WES evaluation.
• If your previous institution cannot provide a transcript in English then you may either complete the WES evaluation or have a certified professional translation made of the transcript from its original language into English. If you choose to have a certified professional translation made, you need to provide our Admissions Office copies of both the translation and the original transcript.

• Boston University School of Theology welcomes transfer students from other institutions. Applicants for transfer into a degree program are evaluated on the same basis as other applicants. Applicants may also be eligible for consideration for merit awards based on the same criteria as other applicants for admission.
• Students may transfer credits from any graduate theological school accredited by the Association of Theological Schools (ATS) or other comparable accrediting agency if transferring from outside of North America. In every instance, course equivalents are determined on an individual basis, by petition, and only when that coursework is demonstrated to be relevant to the course of study being pursued in the School of Theology, as determined by the Associate Dean of Academic Affairs, operating on behalf of the faculty.
• Applicants for transfer must include in their personal statement the reasons they are seeking a transfer, and must provide a recently-issued letter of good standing from their previous institution.
• Please see the School of Theology’s Academic Bulletin for the latest Admissions Transfer Policy.

Incoming first-level master’s students who have taken previous courses in religious studies may be able to earn advanced standing in certain academic disciplines by sending a petition to the Office of the Registrar, where it will then be forwarded to the Academic Dean for review. Advanced Standing is different from transfer credit in that it does not reduce the number of credit hours one must earn toward a master’s degree program. However, if an incoming student is granted advanced standing in an academic discipline, that person is able to take an advanced course in the discipline rather than the introductory course. Advanced Standing in New Testament, for example, allows an incoming student to take an upper-level New Testament course such as “Letter to the Romans” or “Gospel of John” rather than the “Introduction to the New Testament” class.

Advanced Standing permission is only applicable to required, introductory-level core courses. Those disciplines are:

Please note: this does not reduce the number of credit hours you must take in your program, but rather allows you to customize your curriculum toward more advanced coursework. The advanced course, moreover, must be taken at the School of Theology (not through the BTI or by transfer).

Advanced Standing is only granted when the coursework previously taken is sufficiently rigorous, employing critical scholarship in the relevant discipline. The course grade on the transcript must be a B or above. To petition for Advanced Standing, you must complete a General Petition Form, selecting “Advanced Standing” as the type of petition. (Please note: you will need your BU email address and kerberos password to complete this form.) (1) You must stipulate explicitly the course or courses in which you are requesting advanced standing and (2) attach the syllabi of all the coursework you have completed in a discipline. (3) You must also provide the transcripts from all relevant prior coursework. Your syllabi and transcripts will be reviewed by the Registrar and Academic Dean, and a decision will be communicated to you prior to registration for your first semester. Any questions about Advanced Standing should be addressed to the School of Theology’s Registrar’s Office.