Learn + Serve + Thrive

Our M.A. in Theology and Ministry is highly customizable, allowing you to choose the path that best fits your interests and context.

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Put your faith into action.

Graduate study at the Boston College’s School of Theology and Ministry is defined by intersecting strengths—rigorous academics and real-world ministry, faith-guided formation and social justice, and tight-knit community and personalized mentorship.

It’s a world-class education within reach: 100% of master’s students receive financial support.

M.A. in Theology and Ministry

Typically completed in two years of full-time study or three years for dual degree and hybrid modality students, this program provides students with a thorough grounding in theology and ministry, combined with spiritual formation and supervised ministry. This program can be completed on either a 36- or 48-credit track. See below for the differences between the two tracks:

36-Credit Track

Only available in hybrid or dual degree formats
Hybrid students in 36-credit track must be working in full time ministry

48-Credit Track

Available in academic year, hybrid, or dual degree formats
Includes supervised ministry requirement
Option to choose degree concentration (excluding dual degrees)

48-Credit Track Optional Concentrations

Latino/a Christianity and Ministry
Religious Education
Faith and Public Life
Spirituality
Theology and the Arts
Theology and Women's Studies

Hybrid students within both the 36 and 48 credit tracks come to campus for three weeks each summer, and complete the rest of the degree online

Dual Degrees

STM offers four dual degree programs as options within the M.A., enabling you to tailor your degree toward your chosen vocation.

Dual Degree Programs

M.A. in Theology and Ministry/M.S.W. (with the BC School of Social Work)
M.A. in Theology and Ministry/M.A. in Counseling (with BC’s Lynch School of Education and Human Development)
M.A. in Theology and Ministry/M.B.A. (with BC’s Carroll School of Management)
M.A. in Theology and Ministry/M.Ed. (with BC's Urban Catholic Teacher Corps program)

Additional Master’s Degrees

Master of Divinity

(M.Div.)

82 credits

3 years of full-time study

ABOUT THE PROGRAM

Master of Theological Studies

(M.T.S.)

48 credits

2 years of full-time study

ABOUT THE PROGRAM

STM Facts and Figures

97%

job placement rate within six months of graduation

#10

Worldwide

in Theology, Divinity, and Religious Studies,

QS World Rankings

300,000

Volumes

Our library is the largest collection of Catholic literature in the U.S.

100%

of master’s students receive financial aid

Humans of STM

Julia Erdlen

Luis Uriel De Dios Hernandez

Grace Mariette Agolia

Rev. Anthony Nweke

Ready to start your STM journey?

Inquire now to start your degree in the spring, summer, or fall.

Inquire

SCHOOL OF THEOLOGY AND MINISTRY

Simboli Hall

9 Lake Street

Brighton, MA 02135

617-552-6506

MASTER OF DIVINITY

This comprehensive degree combines intensive study of theology with supervised ministry and spiritual formation to prepare you for lay ecclesial ministry or ordained priesthood. Join a tight-knit cohort as you prepare to lead in today’s church and world.

MASTER OF THEOLOGICAL STUDIES

Ideal for students who want to go onto doctoral studies or teaching in religion and theology, this flexible program offers you the opportunity to deepen your grasp of multiple subdisciplines within theology.

"My transitioning into the US school culture and environment was not easy. Finding my way around the campus, and getting used to the study system was initially challenging. But the availability of the staff and the older student members of the STM to assist with direction helped to make my transitioning a smooth one. Looking back at when I started at the STM it surprises me how time has gone by and how much I have integrated into the school system and Boston culture in general.” —Rev. Anthony Nweke, S.T.L '21

"Joy, for me, has been found in the silliness, in the laughter, in the moments of being our authentic selves. It is the surprise run-in with Professor Félix Palazzi and his dog Nacho. It is Dean Stegman’s smile coming down the hallway preparing to make a witty (although predictable) joke about my name. It is the new experimental cream cheese at Tasty Tuesday. It is the way the programs at Mass accidentally printed out backwards, but Laudato Si’ means it stays like that. Joy is found in the details here at the STM and the details end up making up the entire picture.” —Amirah Orozco

Masters in Theological Studies ‘21

“Baking bread, batches of cookies, and some experimental dinner recipes doesn’t really feel like building the Kingdom of God. But, during the past year and a half of being unmoored, it has been my prayer when praying seems impossible.” — Julia Erdlen, M.Div '22

“I have been shaped by the multiple relationships I have built at the STM. Relationships that have not only shaped who I am but who I want to be and how I can serve the church..” — Luis Uriel De Dios Hernandez, M.Div ’22

“I am a modern day global nomad. I have not stayed in a house longer than 2 years in the last 13 years. I am always on the move. I moved out of home and out of Malaysia at the age of 19 to study Architecture in Melbourne, Australia. I vividly recall looking out of the plane, over the night light of Kuala Lumpur on a clear Valentine’s Day night, dreaming of a future brighter than the stars just slightly above me.” —Ramesh Richards, S.J., MDiv ‘19

“For me, one of the great advantages of working at the STM is the sense of joy that pervades life here. For example, I sense it on Thursday at repast, when students, faculty, staff and guests pull tables and chairs together to share lunch. Introductions are made and conversation ensue among all, giving witness to a lively faith in the ongoing presence of God.” —Theresa O'Keefe, Associate Professor of the Practice of Youth and Young Adult Faith

"I sometimes wonder how the deaf and mute man in Mark 7:31-37 felt when he experienced Jesus’ healing touch enter the dull pain of his isolation. In my own moments of self-doubt when I can’t understand what others are saying and fail to advocate for myself, Jesus also takes me aside and exhorts me to “Be opened!” —Grace Mariette Agolia, MTS '19

“Art uses the dust and ashes of our love, loss, and longing…pointing us back towards Something More. Art, for me is dancing with the Breath of creation—with our presents of present breath, right here, right now—and diving deeper into what it means to ‘human’.”

— Mookie Manalili, MTS/MSW ’20

“ I was (and am) searching for answers. But I also came here in search of resources to help me to continue that work, in search of a means of doing a better job. As I graduate, I trust and hope that, strengthened by those resources, I might patiently live out Christ's work of love, wherever God leads me next.” —Kevin Mader, MTS '18

"Strange as it may seem, I discovered theology and ministry as a vocation in the seventh grade. The discovery took place within the context of a Young Christian Students (YCS) group facilitated by three Franciscan sisters who were my teachers. It was in this context that I was introduced to the See-Judge-Act method of learning how (and why!) to read the Word (the Gospel) in the world. As part of a select group of twelve and thirteen year old students, my theological imagination and ministerial aspirations were engaged by a growing awareness of the ethical demands of discipleship and my own moral agency as a follower of Jesus.” —Sr. Meg Guider, OSF, Associate Professor of Missiology