Admissions

Admission Requirements

• Master of Divinity Degree: One must have an accredited M.Div. degree (or a master’s degree plus equivalent course work) for admission.
• Ministry Experience: Candidates must have three years of appropriate ministerial experience beyond the first master’s degree. A certain percentage of exceptions are allowed.
• GPA: Applicants must show by official transcript a minimum grade point average of 3.0 (on a 4.0 scale). A student whose graduate GPA is between 2.70 and 3.00 may be considered for probationary admission for the D.Min. Probation will be removed upon completing 18 hours of course work that applies to the D.Min. degree with a GPA of 3.00.

Application Process:

• Complete formal online application. The application is found here.
• Committee Interview: When the completed file has been reviewed and approved by the program directors, the applicant will be invited to a telephone interview with the admissions committee.
• English Proficiency: A score of at least 550 (paper-based test), 213 (computer-based test) or 79 (Internet-based test) is required on the TOEFL examination of all applicants whose native language is not English. For information on this English language proficiency test, write to TOEFL Services, Educational Testing Service, P.O. Box 6151, Princeton, NJ 08541-6151, USA.
• Transfer Credit: A maximum of six semester hours of graduate credit from HST or another ATS accredited institution may be applied toward course requirements for the D.Min. degree, subject to approval of the D.Min. Dissertation Committee. All transfer or masters level credit must count toward the six hours of program electives.
• Auditing: A D.Min. candidate or graduate can audit any course for a reduced fee.

M.Div. Equivalency

The Master of Divinity is a prerequisite for application to the Doctor of Ministry program. A student who has a master’s degree in a related field (Bible, theology, ministry) but does not hold the M.Div. may pursue M.Div. equivalency.

Equivalency is considered on a case-by-case basis by the D.Min. directors and the Associate Dean. After completing the M.Div. equivalency, a student would then apply for admission to the Doctor of Ministry degree, as equivalency does not guarantee admission, but simply satisfies the academic prerequisites.

The equivalency route involves the completion of at least 72 hours of masters’ work. Courses considered for equivalency should represent a similar kind of subject distribution and academic philosophy as HST. Generally the 72 graduate hours includes twelve hours from the biblical division department, fifteen hours from the theological division, nine hours from the ministerial division and thirty-three hours of electives. Credit is not given for life experience in ministry.