Master of Arts

Admission and Financial Support

Tantur class summer 2007
The M.A. (Theology) degree program seeks to serve the following constituencies:

  • those teaching theology at the high school level
  • those seeking to serve the church or diocese in an enhanced capacity
  • those seeking theological training to augment their work in other professional contexts (i.e, hospitals, social work, etc.)
  • those desiring personal enrichment.

Those seeking to do further doctoral work in theology are encouraged to apply to the M.T.S. program.

Admission

Admission to the summer session is a two-step process involving:

  1. Application/course selection (registration)
  2. Enrollment at the beginning of classes 

Both steps must be completed by each student for every summer session in which the student attends classes, uses University facilities, or receives a graduate degree.

Prerequisites for Admission for Degree Seeking Students

  • A bachelor’s degree
  • At least 6 credit hours of course work in theology or religious studies
  • All applicable transcripts
  • Three letters of recommendation
  • Statement of intent
  • The Graduate Record Examination (with minimum scores of 500 in both the verbal and quantitative sections, or 4/6 in the new analytic section

Application and Enrollment

For New Degree-seeking Students

The application deadline as a "Degree Seeking Student" for Summer Session 2008 to the M.A. (Theology) degree program is May 1. 

Instructions for applying for a Summer Degree
A new degree seeking student will need to complete two applications, the “Summer Session Graduate” application for course selection and the "online application" with Graduate Admissions to become degree seeking.

For Notre Dame Graduate Degree students and Graduate non-degree summer only students

For the application and enrollment procedures for both Notre Dame continuing students and non-Notre Dame, summer-only students, please consult the Summer Session website > http://www.nd.edu/~sumsess.

Certification

For those who wish to take advantage of course offerings in the M.A. program without pursuing the degree itself, a certificate option is available. This enables students to take courses for credit without being liable to specific degree requirements or comprehensive examinations. Upon completion of a minimum of 24 credit hours, the Department of Theology will issue a testimonial certificate.

Non-degree Credit Hours

Students may apply up to 12 hours of coursework taken at Notre Dame before admission to their degree program. Hours taken beyond 12 hours as a non-degree student will not count towards the 42 hours of degree program coursework. 

All students are responsible for monitoring their respective hours of course work.

Degree Eigibility

A master's program that is pursued during the summer and the academic year must be completed within five years.  A student attending summer session only must complete all requirements within seven years.