Founded in 1983, the Graduate Program in Pastoral Ministries offers small classes in both face-to-face and online blended formats tailored to our students’ ministry goals. The program provides a strong theological foundation to an international body of students.
Here are some answers to frequently asked questions.
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What is the faculty makeup of the program?
Our faculty is drawn from the excellent scholars in the Religious Studies Department at Santa Clara University as well as experts drawn from institutions worldwide.
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What can I expect from my courses?
Small class size and individual curricula allow each student to design a course of study that best prepares her or him for future ministerial work. All courses focus on providing students with intellectual capacity and practical knowledge to serve dynamically in their individual apostolate. The strong theological foundation required of all students, the Ignatian pedagogy, and the diverse student body all help to create a unique, vigorous, and challenging environment designed to help students better serve the people of God.
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Can I take a course without committing to the whole degree?
If you are not ready to commit to seeking a Master of Arts degree but you are intrigued by one or more of the courses you see listed you may apply as a non-degree seeking student. You still apply to the program using the online application and you may take a few courses for credit or as an auditor. Fees do apply.
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How long will it take me to graduate?
If you study full-time during the regular school year, you can finish your degree in two years. Because many of you will be working while studying you may find it easier to take one course per quarter. If you take one course per quarter it will take you five years (without summer quarter classes) to complete the 60 quarter units required for the degree.
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How do I apply for financial aid?
Generous donors to the Graduate Program in Pastoral Ministries have created an endowment that allows the Program to offer ample financial aid and scholarships. All students applying for financial aid must:
- Submit annually an online Certification of Ministry Form that confirms their involvement in some form of ministry. This confirms a student's eligibility for a 25% tuition remission. A supplemental pdf form must be downloaded, signed and sent back to us.
- Submit an online Financial Aid Application Form annually.
Specific questions may be answered by visiting our financial aid page or by contacting the Pastoral Ministries Office.
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What are housing options?
On-campus housing may be arranged through the Office of Residence Life: University Housing. The Office of Residence Life also has information on available rentals close to the university.
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What are my employment options after I graduate?
Graduates of the Program have moved on to a variety of ministerial positions including primary and secondary education, non-profits, catechetical, liturgical, musical, and spiritual works in parishes, retreat and hospital ministries, as well as doctoral work. The Graduate Program in Pastoral Ministries has a wide network of graduates who provide assistance with job searches as well as many potential employers who contact the office regularly with job openings. In addition, we have begun using the SCU Career Center's Handshake portal to encourage employers to post there; all current students can login with their Santa Clara University sign-on. See our Student Resources section, which has further resources for career networking.
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Does Santa Clara University offer other theological degrees at the graduate level?
Santa Clara University offers a Master of Divinity and a Master of Theological Studies at the Berkeley campus of the Jesuit School of Theology of Santa Clara University. Check out the JST website.
Since 1983 the Graduate Program in Pastoral Ministries has been preparing women and men to enter professional ministries in Church and society.
The program offers the Master of Arts degree in Pastoral Ministries in both face-to-face and online blended teaching formats. The degree program has five major goals:
- Theological Knowledge: Students will gain a broad theological foundation that will undergird inquiry into a select area of concentration. Foundatonal areas are Fundamental Theology, Christology, Ecclesiology, Hebrew Bible, New Testament, Theological Ethics, and Sacraments and Liturgy.
- Pastoral Proficiency: Students will develop pastoral skills, ministry knowledge, and liturgical fluencies in at least one key field of study relevant to Christian ministry.
- Leadership Skill: Students will become competent leaders dedicated to serving the Church and to creating community in parish and other pastoral settings.
- Justice Commitment: Students will demonstrate a critically informed approach to faith that promotes social justice for the common good, especially for the benefit of those in greatest need.
- Diversity Fluency: Students will become prepared ministry professionals able to function effectively in a diverse global religious environment.
Students and graduates of the Graduate Program in Pastoral Ministries serve in parishes, education, diocesan offices, and non-profits in a variety of roles such as:
- Catechists
- Directors of Religious Education
- Retreat leaders
- RCIA teachers
- Liturgy & Music directors
- Non-profit program directors
- Permanent Deacons
- Campus Ministers
- Hospital Chaplains
- Primary and secondary school teachers
- Catechists directing programs for children
- Restorative Justice program facilitators
- Students preparing for doctoral work
The Program offers courses during the academic year from September through June, as well as during several summer sessions. The student body is richly comprised of Roman Catholics and Protestants, international students, laity, as well as priests and religious men and women.
Our mission is to prepare women and men to be compassionate and competent professionals working to transform lives, schools, and communities.
Students may choose to enroll in one of our two (soon to be three) ministry emphases, each of which entails 4-5 of its own required courses in addition to the seven foundational courses. Emphasis students round out their curriculum with 3-4 electives, for a total of 15 courses (60 units), plus the capstone. Emphasis students have the option to complete their capstone as either a portfolio of course work and integrative essay or as a ministry practicum and essay.
Latina/o Ministry
The four courses required for the emphasis are:
- LATM 220: U.S. Latina/o Theology
- LATM 221: Enfrentamiento y Encuentro: History and Mission in Latina/o Perspective
- LATM 222: Latina/o Popular Religiosity and Its Ethics of Solidarity
- LATM 233: Latin@x Youth and Young Adult Ministry
Students take four additional electives and complete a capstone portfolio or practicum.*
Restorative Justice and Chaplaincy
The five courses required for the emphasis are:
- RJUS 220: Introduction to Restorative Justice
- RJUS 221: Chaplaincy
- RJUS 222: Trauma and Healing in a Broken World
- RJUS 233: Introduction to the Criminal Justice System
- RJUS 233: Intercultural and Interreligious Competencies
Students take three additional electives and complete a capstone portfolio or practicum.* This emphasis is offered at one hub in Southern California and one in Northern California. The southern hub location is in the Diocese of San Diego at the Diocesan Pastoral Center 3888 Paducah Drive in San Diego and serves students from all of the surrounding dioceses. The hub serving the dioceses in northern California is in the Diocese of Oakland at Cathedral of Christ the Light Parish in Oakland at 2121 Harrison Street.
Youth & Young Adult Ministries
This emphasis is currently proposed for our Santa Clara campus; we hope to receive approval in the 2020-21 academic year. The five courses required for the emphasis are:
- YMIN 220: Evangelization and Discipleship
- YMIN 221: Reimagining Youth Ministry
- YMIN 222: Reimagining Young Adult Ministry
- YMIN 233: Community, Ritual and Mission: Nourishing the Christian Life
- YMIN 233: Family, Relationships and Ministry
Students take three additional electives and complete a capstone portfolio or practicum.*
* International students interested in exploring the Practicum option should plan to meet with an international student advisor in the Global Engagement Office to discuss whether the project parameters require you to receive Curricular Practical Training (CPT) advising.
The Master of Arts degree in Pastoral Ministries is currently being offered in seven dioceses in California.
Santa Clara University is pleased to offer an online blended Master's Degree in Pastoral Ministries in the Dioceses of Monterey, Los Angeles, San Bernardino, and Sacramento alongside the predominantly face-to-face program on campus in the Diocese of San José. The Diocese of San Diego and the Diocese of Oakland offer the MA in Pastoral Ministries with an emphasis in Restorative Justice and Chaplaincy. The courses are taught through a combination of face-to-face, video conferencing and online experiences. We believe that training in ministry is a personal journey that must involve personal interactions. All courses, therefore, provide live video conferencing with the professor and other students, but also at least three all-day classes held face-to-face at the diocesan sites by the professor.
Classes in adjacent dioceses are offered on staggered weekends when possible to allow students some flexibility in completing their curriculum more quickly by taking courses outside their cohort. To increase flexibility for students, we have also begun to offer a limited number of hybrid courses based on the Santa Clara University campus (one per quarter).
Delivery of Classes
Classes are delivered in three modes in the Graduate Program in Pastoral Ministries.
- First, classes are offered in the traditional face-to-face classroom experience. Students meet once a week in the evening for ten weeks in an assigned classroom.
- Second, classes are offered in a blended format. On three Saturdays during the ten weeks of the course, students meet for an all day session in the traditional face-to-face classroom experience. For the remaining seven weeks, the students meet with the professor online in a live session (synchronous video conferencing) once a week. These courses take place in the individual homes or other chosen location of the participants.
- Third, any class may be taken fully in the synchronous video conferencing mode with the approval of the program Director. This option is open only to students who cannot attend a traditional face-to-face classroom session. In this case, the student may join the traditional face-to-face class through synchronous video conferencing as well as the weekly sychronous video conferencing for those courses that are offered in the blended format.
Summary:
- You go to class.
- You go to class and talk with the professor and other students on your computer.
- You participate in class by talking to the professor and other students on your computer.
