In addition to the general application and application fee requirements for graduate study, the candidate will comply with the following requirements:
Presentation of an official transcript from an accredited bachelor's degree. This transcript must include a minimum of 12 semester hours in religion with an exception possible for experience in fulltime ministry recognized by the Seventh-day Adventist Church. Other prerequisites may apply to the specific emphases.
Intermediate level Biblical Hebrew or Greek with a grade of C or higher. Courses may be part of the 12 semester hours in religion required above. Theological Studies emphasis is excluded from this requirement.
A minimum cumulative undergraduate GPA of 3.25. For an undergraduate GPA of 2.75 to 3.24, applicants may appeal to be admitted on a provisional basis. A formal academic paper to demonstrate academic competency may be required of the candidate.
Two recommendations. If the applicant is employed by the Seventh-day Adventist Church, one of these recommendations must be from the applicant's employing organization.
If applicable, a record of denominational employment indicating the places and dates of service, and the capacity in which the applicant was employed.
Candidates are to submit a written "Statement of Purpose" following the guidelines provided by the School of Religion.
For students for whom English is not their first language and they did not graduate from an English-medium college or university, an Internet-based TOEFL (Test of English as a Foreign Language) score of 100 is required which may be taken through Duolingo.
Final decisions about acceptance into the program are made by the Graduate Studies Committee of the School of Religion.
Program Specific Info
Project and Thesis Procedure
All MA students choosing the emphases in Old or New Testament must complete a thesis, while students who choose the emphasis in Theological Studies must complete either a thesis or a project.
The project must be done in conjunction with an adviser assigned by the Graduate Studies Committee. The adviser will work with the student to select a topic, plan the research, guide in the organization of the paper, and evaluate the result.
The thesis must be done in conjunction with a three-person Thesis Committee, chaired by the adviser and appointed by the Graduate Studies Committee.
The project or thesis must conform to the style guidelines of the School of Religion, which are based on the footnote and bibliography style of the latest edition of the Chicago Manualof Style or Turabian's Manual for Writers. For more details regarding style guidelines, project or thesis procedures, and suggested timelines, please consult the School of Religion Graduate Handbook.
Credit hours for the project or thesis may be distributed as desired over the course of the work, but since students must remain continuously enrolled until the work has been completed and approved. If all credits have been exhausted before the work is completed, the student must enroll for RELT 679 Thesis Continuation (0 credit) and pay the continuation fee.
File a completed graduate application with Graduate and Professional Studies not less than two months before the expected graduation date.
Finish all coursework with a minimum grade point average of 3.25, including no more than two classes with a minimum letter grade of C. (See grade policies.)
Pass a written comprehensive examination taken no earlier than 3 months and no later than 12 months after receiving the study guide from the Graduate Program Coordinator, which will be sent after the student completes the last course in his or her program. Examination dates will be arranged in consultation with the Graduate Program Coordinator.
The examination is expected to last 4 1/2 hours.
The candidate for graduation will need to give comprehensive answers to several questions drawn from a larger list of questions available for research and review at the end of his or her coursework.
A score of 80% or above will constitute a passing grade.
In case of failure, the examination may be repeated only once. A second failure will disqualify the student for graduation from the MA program.