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General Admissions Requirements

To be considered for admission, applicants to any master’s program (including the Certificate in Christian Studies or Special Student Status) must

1. Have earned a bachelor’s degree or equivalent from an approved college or university, normally including at least 60 semester hours of liberal arts course work.

2. Submit a one-time $25.00 nonrefundable application fee. Checks should be made payable in $U.S. and drawn from a bank in the United States. For your convenience, fees may also be paid using Visa, MasterCard, or Discover. (Additional application fees apply only when applying to a different program level, i.e., Doctoral.)

3. Submit official transcripts from all schools attended since high school and from which more than 3 courses have been taken. (Transcripts should also be sent from any school from which prerequisite course work needed for a program was taken, even if 3 courses or less were taken.) If the applicant attended high school or secondary school in another country, those transcripts should be sent as well.

4. Have recommendation forms sent from each of the following:
        a)    Applicant’s pastor
        b)    Applicant’s employer or a business acquaintance
        c)    A faculty member or school administrator. (Should the applicant have difficulty identifying or locating one of these individuals, please contact the Admissions Office for alternative suggestions). Electronic Recommendation (for emailing)

5. Personal Statements. Please provide the information requested below (typewritten, double spaced.)
   
   All applicants, please provide the following:
   A.  A statement of your past Christian experience, including your conversion, subsequent commitments, significant spiritual events, and formative influences in your life. (300-500 words)
   B.  A statement describing and evaluating your present spiritual life and Christian service, including your involvement in church and/or Christian organizations, areas in which you are experiencing growth, details concerning your call or decision to enter some form of Christian ministry, and your goals for the future. (300-500 words)
   C.  A statement about your ministry goals.  Including the following:  (1) At your current level of understanding, what are your future goals in respect to ministry? (2) How will Trinity and the program that you are applying to help serve your goals for the future? (300-500 words)
   
   All doctoral applicants, please provide the following:
   D.  Why do you wish to pursue the doctoral program to which you are applying?
   E.  Summarize the area(s) in which you desire to do the course work and research related to the writing of a doctoral dissertation or professional project.
   F.  Do you have teaching experience at the undergraduate level or above? If yes, please submit a one-page summary of your experience, including dates, locations, and courses taught and a brief self-examination of your success as a teacher.
   
   Doctor of Philosophy in Theological Studies applicants only, please read and answer the following:
   G.  Admission to the PhD in Theological Studies does not presuppose a student's adherence to the school's Statement of Faith. Nonetheless, Trinity Evangelical Divinity School is a confessional school, and its faculty is committed to the historic creeds of the ancient church and to the major confessions of the Reformation period. Specifically, every regular faculty member signs the school's Statement of Faith and affirms his or her agreement with its articles. Would such an academic and confessional environment enable you to accomplish your goals for you doctoral studies? On a separate page, please provide a specific response to this question.

6. Have earned the minimum undergraduate grade point average (GPA) required for admission to a particular program. These are as follows:
    

   MDiv	2.50
   MA	3.00
   MAR	2.50
   ThM	3.00*	*In MDiv program
   Certificate	2.00
   Special Student	2.50
   Visiting Student	2.00

   
   

7. Submit results from standardized tests as required.

8. Submit results from TOEFL (and related tests as required) if English was not the applicant's primary language of instruction (see Application Instructions).