Ranked #21 in popularity, theological & ministerial studies is one of the most sought-after master's degree programs in the nation. This means there are lots of options to choose from when you decide to get your degree.
College Factual reviewed 8 schools in the Far Western US Region to determine which ones were the best for master's degree seekers in the field of theological & ministerial studies. When you put them all together, these colleges and universities awarded 1,088 master's degrees in theological & ministerial studies during the 2022-2023 academic year.
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Choosing a Great Theological & Ministerial Studies School for Your Master's Degree
Your choice of theological & ministerial studies for getting your master's degree school matters. Important measures of a quality theology program can vary widely even among the top schools. To make it into this list, a school must excel in the following areas.
A Great Overall School
A school that excels in educating for a particular major and degree level must be a great school overall as well. To make it into this list a school must rank well in our overall Best Colleges for a Master's Degree ranking. This ranking considered factors such as graduation rates, overall graduate earnings and other educational resources to identify great colleges and universities.
Early-Career Earnings
One measure we use to determine the quality of a school is to look at the average salary of master's graduates during the early years of their career. That is, everyone wants their master's degree to be worth something, and salaries are one measure of determining that.
Other Factors We Consider
In addition to the above, you should consider some of the following factors:
Major Focus - How much a school focuses on theological & ministerial studies students vs. other majors.
Major Demand - The number of theological & ministerial studies students who choose to seek a master's degree at the school.
Educational Resources - The amount of money and other resources allocated to students while they are pursuing their degree. These resources include such things as number of students per instructor and education expenditures per student.
Student Debt - How easy is it for theological & ministerial studies to pay back their student loans after receiving their master's degree.
Accreditation - Whether a school is regionally accredited and/or accredited by a recognized theological & ministerial studies related body.
Our complete ranking methodology documents in more detail how we consider these factors to identify the best colleges for theological & ministerial studies students working on their master's degree.
When choosing the right school for you, it's important to arm yourself with all the facts you can. To that end, we've created a number of major-specific rankings, including this Best Theological & Ministerial Studies Master's Degree Schools in the Far Western US Region list to help you make the college decision.
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It's difficult to beat The Master's University and Seminary if you wish to pursue a master's degree in theological & ministerial studies. The Master's University is a small private not-for-profit university located in the suburb of Santa Clarita.
Those theological & ministerial studies students who get their master's degree from The Master's University and Seminary receive $16,257 more than the typical theology student.
Biola University is one of the best schools in the country for getting a master's degree in theological & ministerial studies. Located in the large suburb of La Mirada, Biola is a private not-for-profit university with a moderately-sized student population.
Soon after graduation, theology master's recipients generally make around $42,625 in their early careers.
The bars on the spread charts above show the distribution of the schools on this list +/- one standard deviation from the mean.
The Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) from the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), a branch of the U.S. Department of Education (DOE) serves as the core of the rest of our data about colleges.
Some other college data, including much of the graduate earnings data, comes from the U.S. Department of Education’s (College Scorecard).
Your choice of theological & ministerial studies for getting your master's degree school matters. Important measures of a quality theology program can vary widely even among the top schools. To make it into this list, a school must excel in the following areas.
