Episcopal Press and News
Episcopal seminaries' enrollment statistics show varying trends
Episcopal News Service. November 6, 2007 [110607-01]
Mary Frances Schjonberg
The average age of people enrolled in the seminaries associated with the Episcopal Church continues to range from the high 30s to the mid 40s.
Episcopal News Service contacted all 11 seminaries this fall, asking them for specific information about their incoming classes, as well as their student bodies as a whole. Not all of the information requested is compiled in the same way from seminary to seminary, and thus apples-to-apples comparisons are not always possible.
It is also worth noting that most seminaries now offer degree and certificate programs beyond the traditional Master of Divinity degree sought by most people in the ordination process.
Most seminaries showed enrollments ranging near to what they had experienced in recent years. Whether male or female students form the majority varies from seminary to seminary.
Bexley Hall, based in Columbus, Ohio, and with a branch campus in Rochester, New York, and Trinity Episcopal School of Ministry in Ambridge, Pennsylvania, did not respond to ENS' requests for information.
Berkeley Divinity School at Yale told ENS it was unable to split out its enrollment statistics from those of Yale Divinity School.
Below are summaries of the statistics ENS received in response to its requests.
Church Divinity School of the Pacific
CDSP's total enrollment this fall stands at 116, including an incoming class in all degree and other programs of 55. Of that incoming total, 30 are Master of Divinity students.
The Berkeley, California-based seminary also has 19 Ph.D. students affiliated with it. The Ph.D. is granted by the Graduate Theological Union (GTU), of which CDSP is a founding member, and candidates are required to affiliate with one of the GTU's nine member schools.
The size of this fall's incoming class compares with 104 in the previous year and 121 in 2005.
The average age of the student body is 44 years, as is the average age of the incoming class. The seminary has 70 students distributed nearly equally in their 20s, 30s, and 40s. There are 34 students in their 50s and 11 in their 60s. One student is listed as being in his or her 70s.
The student body has 69 females and 47 males. Sixty-eight are full-time students and 48 are part-time. The student body has the same split, 68 and 48, between commuters and those living in CDSP housing, not all of which is located on the campus.
Episcopal Divinity School
At EDS, the total fall 2007 enrollment is 85, including 19 new students, 17 of whom are full-time. Of that total, 45 are Masters of Divinity students, 10 are MATS, eight are combining the two degrees, 18 are studying for Doctor of Ministry (D.Min.) degrees, three are in certificate of studies tracks and one is the current Procter Scholar.
EDS has three enrollment points during the academic year: September for students enrolling as traditional masters or certificate students, January for D.Min. students, and June for masters students studying under the school's flexible study option. The change was initiated several years ago when EDS recognized that a September start proved challenging for D.Min. candidates who planned to continue to work full- or part-time while attending seminary, according to communications director Nancy Davidge. The school moved the required D.Min. courses to its two-week, intensive January and June terms. The move has helped EDS grow the D.Min. program from approximately six students in 2003-2004 to 18 to date, said Davidge, adding that the school anticipates enrolling eight to 10 new D.Min. students in January 2008.
This past June, EDS welcomed its first cohort of master's degree students who elected to enroll in the flexible study option. These students live on campus for the two intensive terms each year, with their other course work occurring online or during weekends. Formation and community building occurs throughout the year via the school's virtual community portal, Davidge said.
The school anticipates adding another 10-12 students this coming June, bringing its anticipated total entering-class enrollment at that point to between 37 and 41 student encompassing all three categories. That total is in line with the 2006-2007 entering class total of 39 and the 2005-2006 total of 40.
EDS' current enrollment includes 51 females and 34 males with an age range of 23 years to 69 years. The mean age of the student body is 42.3 years while among M.Div degrees it is 37.5.
Of its total enrollment, 35 of EDS' students are residents, 27 are commuters and 23 are on the seminary's flexible study option.
Episcopal Theological Seminary of the Southwest
At ETSS in Austin, Texas, 60 students are enrolled full-time and 45 are part-time, making for 67 full-time equivalents. The incoming class accounts for 22 full-time students and 18 who are part-time. The incoming class is slightly larger than in previous years.
Seventy-two women and 33 men are enrolled. The entering class consists of 28 women and 12 men, who range in age from 23 years to 67. The incoming class's average age is 45 and the overall average age of the student body is 44.
Overall, 37 ETSS students are residents and 68 are commuters.
General Theological Seminary
The incoming class at General, located in New York City, is the biggest in the recent past, consisting of 64 students. The average age of the 37 males and 27 females is 44. There are 17 commuters in the class.
There are 145 students enrolled at GTS. Of those, 76 are male and 69 are female. The median age of the student body is approximately 44. They range in age between 23 and 72.
Six of the 96 M.Div. students are commuters and most of the masters students commute as well.
Nashotah House
Nashotah, located west of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, has a total enrollment this fall of 50 full-time-equivalent students, 21 of whom are in the incoming class. The entire student body consists of 44 males and six females. The incoming class has 17 males and four females, who range in age from 23 to 60 years of age. The size of the incoming class is the same as the previous year and down one from the year before that.
The mean age of the entering students is 38.6, while that of returning students is 36.7. Thus, the mean age of the entire 2007-2008 student body is 37.5, down from 39 in 2006.
All of Nashotah's students live on campus.
Seabury-Western Theological Seminary
There are 109 students enrolled at Evanston, Illinois-based Seabury this fall. Of that total, 57 are male and 52 are female. There are six entering students in the Masters of Divinity program who joined 17 middlers and seven seniors.
The average age of all students is 46, with an age range of 23 to 64. The average age of M.Div. students is 41.
Seabury has 44 students enrolled in its Doctor of Ministry in Congregational Development track. The degree program is designed for "experienced church leaders in all denominations who in their present work assume major responsibilities in congregational development or redevelopment," according to the Seabury website. Another 15 doctoral students are enrolled in Seabury's Doctor of Ministry in Preaching program, which is an ecumenical program of six seminaries in the Association of Chicago Theological Schools.
Sewanee
At the School of Theology at the University of the South in Sewanee, Tennessee, 79 students are enrolled full time this academic year and five are part-time. Entering students account for 28 full-time and four part-time students.
There are 37 females at Sewanee and 44 males, with an entering class of 21 males and 11 females. The entering class ranges in age from 25 to 66 years.
Sixty-six Sewanee students are residents and 15 are commuters.
Sewanee did not supply information on how the 2007-2008 entering class compares to previous years.
Virginia Theological Seminary
At VTS, located in Alexandria, Virginia, just outside of Washington, D.C., the student body consists of 151.8 full-time equivalents. There are 123 full-time students and 24 who are part-time.
In the entering class, 44 are full-time and five are part-time. The entering class size is down from the 57 who entered in 2006 and the 55 who joined VTS in 2005.
There are 78 females and 69 males in the student body. There are 27 males and 22 females in the entering class who range in age from 23 to 71 years of age. Seventeen are in their 20s and the average age of the class is 39.5, the same as for the entire student body. Among the returning students, there are 31 in their 20s, 22 in their 30s, 22 in their 40s, 18 in their 50s, and five in their sixties. Thus, 33 percent of VTS students are in their 20s.
Forty-five of VTS students are commuters. On the VTS campus, 74 live in housing for single students and 28 live off campus in VTS-subsidized housing for married students.