Home Christian News Theological Schools Report Continued Drop in Master of Divinity Degrees

Theological Schools Report Continued Drop in Master of Divinity Degrees

Overall enrollment at theological schools remains steady, an impressive feat, noted Meinzer, amid changing religious trends and demographic challenges in higher education. Still, 57% of ATS schools reported declining enrollment, a sharp rise from 2020, when 46% of ATS schools showed enrollment decreases.

Meinzer pointed to schools’ pivot to online classes as one reason. He said roughly 95% of ATS schools went completely online in 2020. The return to in-person study could be negatively impacting enrollment.

The new ATS data is evidence of broader changes in North America’s religious landscape. Many theological schools are adapting to meet the needs of students claiming spiritual identities apart from religious institutions. This spring, Graduate Theological Union, a 60-year-old consortium of California seminaries and religious study centers, launched a new online learning hub for interreligious activism in which students can study online and pay little or no tuition. In October 2021, Hartford Seminary in Connecticut rebranded as Hartford International University for Religion and Peace, a name that better reflects the school’s offerings. The school does not offer a master of divinity program and hasn’t ordained clergy since the 1970s.

As theological institutions look to the future, Meinzer urged schools to continue to innovate to meet the needs of today’s evolving religious scene.

“The world is changing, and we need leaders who can serve that changing world,” he said.

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This article originally appeared at ReligionNews.com.