Theological education is a key influence on the church today—as it has been for centuries. I have invested a lot of my life and ministry into theological education as a student, as a professor, and an administrator.
Currently, I’m serving one of the largest multi-denominational seminaries in the world as the dean of the Talbot School of Theology at Biola University.
Because of my commitment to the importance of theological education, I keep an eye on the state of seminary education in our nation. I always anticipate the release of the annual report of the Association of Theological Schools (ATS), the latest of which came out a few days ago.
Any accredited seminary in the United States is a part of the ATS report, and a few things stand out to me from the 2024-2025 release.
Largest Seminaries
Here’s a list of the largest schools by full time equivalent (FTE):
It’s noteworthy that among these seminaries, evangelicals in general (and Southern Baptists in particular) dominate the list. All ten largest seminaries identify as evangelical, and most of the others on the list do as well. By “largest,” I refer to Full Time Equivalent (FTE), which is the enrollment of an institution rated by students taking a full course load or the count of all the part-timers rolled into full time equivalents. FTE is a primary metric by which seminaries measure themselves (another being head count).
Lately, I’ve spoken and written a lot about the state of the evangelical church in the United States. The year over year decline of the percentage of the population who self-identifies as evangelical appears to show signs of leveling off. Evangelical identity is not cratering, and the robust enrollment health of evangelical institutions of theological education is just one example of that fact (though this alone does not mean all is well.)
Likewise, after compiling the list of the twenty largest seminaries in America, I wasn’t surprised to see the Baptists at the top of the list. This is the biggest story every year. Liberty University’s seminary is the largest by a landslide, nearly triple the next closest institutions. Liberty is loosely aligned with the Southern Baptist Convention. While Liberty is not an official SBC seminary entity, the seminary identifies itself as Baptist. Even so, all six of the official seminary entities of the Southern Baptist Convention are in the top ten, and three are in the top five.
Of the top ten seminaries (measured by FTE) seven are in the American South, two in California, and Midwestern is, as the name implies, in the Midwest. The presence of many of these schools in the “Bible Belt” makes sense demographically, but I’m encouraged by the presence of healthy schools in what many consider more “secular” contexts like California. I’ve dedicated this season of my own ministry to this context, so this is especially important to me.
Largest Non-Denominational Seminaries
Here is the chart of the largest non-denominational schools:
I love celebrating the story of the non-denominational seminaries, because it demonstrates how evangelical Christianity is a wider, cooperative movement rather than simply a collection of siloed denominations. I’m thrilled that Talbot is now the third-largest multi-denominational seminary on the list, because I think we’re offering a uniquely helpful educational experience. We take our role as a global provider of theological education very seriously, and I can’t wait to share more about our plans soon.
That said, I’m thrilled for all the schools who are providing gospel-shaped theological education across denominational lines. It probably doesn’t surprise anyone who has been paying attention that Dallas Theological Seminary is the largest by quite a lot. I’m glad to see Dallas continue from “strength to strength.” Likewise, Asbury Seminary is an outlier in a couple of ways. While the other schools are generally urban or suburban, Asbury sits in rural Kentucky (with campuses elsewhere). Asbury also has historic ties to various streams of American Methodism, so it taps into those denominational and tribal pools.
These non-denominational schools are distributed geographically much more diversely compared to the full list. Additionally, some of these schools have a foothold in multiple places. For example, Talbot has a degree-granting seminary program in New York City, but we are starting cohorts in Seattle, Phoenix, Las Vegas, Portland, Bay area, and other locations.
