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Overview

ACADEMIC INFORMATION

First Professional Degrees: Master of Divinity and Master of Arts

LTSP offers four academic degree programs after you have received a bachelor’s degree (or its equivalent). The first two are considered "first professional" degrees:

• Master of Divinity (M.Div.) -- The focus of this degree is preparation for ordained ministry or graduate school. The M.Div. involves three full-time academic years.

• Master of Arts (MAR) -- The focus of this degree is preparation for lay leadership, professional (counseling, teaching, etc.) or graduate school. The MAR involves two academic years.

• Options with the first professional degrees:

1. Urban Ministry Concentration
   A concentration within the traditional M.Div. program is offered for those students who are interested in specializing in urban ministry. The goals of this track are to introduce students to the wide variety of gifts and challenges for ministry that the city offers, to learn theological and practical skills for an urban vocation, and to experience creative and effective models of mission.
   
2. Special students and Certificates of Study
   A limited number of students are admitted each year for study without degree candidacy. They are awarded a Certificate of Study to attest to completion of the special program pursued. Some students in this category are studying at the behest of an ELCA Synod overseeing their preparation for ordination even though they do not have the educational background normally required for entrance to a degree program. Others, notably some international students, are engaged in study for the enrichment of both the student and the student’s program of study in the home country, even though the study here may not be applicable to a degree elsewhere.
   
3. Non-Matriculant Study
   A limited number of persons each year may be permitted to study for credit without having completed an application for admission. Such persons must present an official transcript of a bachelor’s degree, and they are limited to a total of six courses. To go further, they must complete and application and be admitted to a degree program.
   
4. Auditors
   According to instructor judgment and permission, a small number of persons may be permitted to participate in courses as auditors (not for credit) without admission to a program. Evidence of an undergraduate college education is expected. Normally, the expectation of such students include completion of reading assignments and participation in all classes, but do not include papers or examinations. No grade is assigned, but certification of Continuing Education Units is available on request at the rate of 3.5 units for a full course, or one unit for each 10 contact hours in other study programs. Special provision is made to encourage lifelong theological education by providing a 50 percent reduction of the audit fee for persons 60 or more years old.

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