27,459Theology & Religious Vocations Degrees Awarded
$36,020Avg Early-Career Salary
You'll be studying one of the lesser sought-after majors if you pursue a degree in theology & religious vocations. It is ranked #26 out of 38 major degree programs in terms of popularity. While this may limit the number of schools that offer the degree program, there are still top-quality ones to be found.
For its 2024 ranking, College Factual looked at 140 schools in the United States to determine which ones were the best for theology & religious vocations students pursuing a degree. Combined, these schools handed out 27,459 degrees in theology & religious vocations to qualified students.
Choosing a Great Theology & Religious Vocations School
Your choice of theology & religious vocations school matters, so we have put together these rankings to help you make your decision. We derive our Best Overall Theology & Religious Vocations School rankings by rolling up our degree-level rankings after weighting them by the number of degrees awarded at each school.
In order to find the schools that are the best fit for you, you may want to filter to one of the degree levels below.
Pick Your Theology & Religious Vocations Degree Level
Since the program you select can have a significant impact on your future, we've developed a number of rankings, including this Best Theology & Religious Vocations Schools list, to help you choose the best school for you.
More interested in schools in a specific area of the country? Filter this list by region or state.
To further help you make the college decision, we've developed a unique tool called College Combat that allows you to compare schools based on the factors that matter the most to you.
Go ahead and give it a try, or bookmark the link so you can check it out later.
Best Schools for Theology & Religious Vocations in the United States
If you aren't interested in a particular degree level and want to know which schools are the overall best at delivering an education for the theology & religious vocations degrees they offer, see the list below. Only those schools that rank in the top 15% of all the schools we analyze get awarded with a place on this list.
Fuller Theological Seminary is one of the finest schools in the United States for getting a degree in theology & religious vocations. Fuller is a small private not-for-profit school located in the city of Pasadena.
There were roughly 492 theology & religious vocations students who graduated with this degree at Fuller in the most recent year we have data available. Those theology & religious vocations students who get their degree from Fuller Theological Seminary make $8,746 more than the average theology & religious vocations student.
Duke University is one of the best schools in the United States for getting a degree in theology & religious vocations. Duke is a large private not-for-profit university located in the large city of Durham. A Best Colleges rank of #7 out of 2,217 schools nationwide means Duke is a great university overall.
There were roughly 191 theology & religious vocations students who graduated with this degree at Duke in the most recent year we have data available. Theology & Religious Vocations degree recipients from Duke University receive an earnings boost of around $15,477 over the average earnings of theology & religious vocations graduates.
University of Notre Dame is a great choice for students pursuing a degree in theology & religious vocations. Notre Dame is a large private not-for-profit university located in the suburb of Notre Dame. A Best Colleges rank of #20 out of 2,217 colleges nationwide means Notre Dame is a great university overall.
There were approximately 150 theology & religious vocations students who graduated with this degree at Notre Dame in the most recent year we have data available. Graduates who receive their degree from the theology & religious vocations program earn around $31,667 in the first couple years of working.
It is difficult to beat Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary if you wish to pursue a degree in theology & religious vocations. Located in the large city of Kansas City, MBTS is a private not-for-profit school with a small student population.
There were approximately 594 theology & religious vocations students who graduated with this degree at MBTS in the most recent data year. After graduation, theology & religious vocations degree recipients usually make about $34,478 in the first five years of their career.
Yale is a fairly large private not-for-profit university located in the city of New Haven. A Best Colleges rank of #8 out of 2,217 schools nationwide means Yale is a great university overall.
There were roughly 133 theology & religious vocations students who graduated with this degree at Yale in the most recent data year. Graduates who receive their degree from the theology & religious vocations program earn about $35,088 in their early career salary.
Located in the midsize city of Lakeland, SEU is a private not-for-profit university with a fairly large student population. This university ranks 12th out of 77 colleges for overall quality in the state of Florida.
There were roughly 515 theology & religious vocations students who graduated with this degree at SEU in the most recent year we have data available. Students who graduate with their degree from the theology & religious vocations program state that they receive average early career wages of $29,173.
Emory is a large private not-for-profit university located in the large city of Atlanta. A Best Colleges rank of #28 out of 2,217 colleges nationwide means Emory is a great university overall.
There were about 152 theology & religious vocations students who graduated with this degree at Emory in the most recent data year. Those theology & religious vocations students who get their degree from Emory University earn $5,184 more than the typical theology & religious vocations grad.
Located in the city of Chicago, Moody Theological Seminary and Graduate School is a private not-for-profit school with a small student population.
There were approximately 706 theology & religious vocations students who graduated with this degree at Moody Theological Seminary and Graduate School in the most recent data year. Soon after graduating, theology & religious vocations degree recipients usually make around $36,242 in their early careers.
UChicago is a fairly large private not-for-profit university located in the city of Chicago. A Best Colleges rank of #2 out of 2,217 schools nationwide means UChicago is a great university overall.
There were about 99 theology & religious vocations students who graduated with this degree at UChicago in the most recent year we have data available. Degree recipients from the theology & religious vocations major at University of Chicago make $7,151 above the typical graduate with the same degree shortly after graduation.
Located in the city of Dallas, DTS Dallas is a private not-for-profit school with a small student population.
There were approximately 430 theology & religious vocations students who graduated with this degree at DTS Dallas in the most recent data year. Theology & Religious Vocations degree recipients from Dallas Theological Seminary get an earnings boost of approximately $3,958 above the typical earnings of theology & religious vocations graduates.
Loyola Chicago is a large private not-for-profit university located in the city of Chicago. This university ranks 4th out of 85 schools for overall quality in the state of Illinois.
There were roughly 63 theology & religious vocations students who graduated with this degree at Loyola Chicago in the most recent year we have data available. Theology & Religious Vocations degree recipients from Loyola University Chicago get an earnings boost of around $3,907 above the average earnings of theology & religious vocations graduates.
Located in the large suburb of Santa Clarita, The Master's University is a private not-for-profit university with a small student population. This university ranks 42nd out of 168 colleges for overall quality in the state of California.
There were about 235 theology & religious vocations students who graduated with this degree at The Master's University in the most recent data year. Theology & Religious Vocations degree recipients from The Master's University and Seminary get an earnings boost of about $7,148 over the average earnings of theology & religious vocations majors.
Located in the midsize city of Cambridge, Harvard is a private not-for-profit university with a very large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #6 out of 2,217 colleges nationwide means Harvard is a great university overall.
There were about 94 theology & religious vocations students who graduated with this degree at Harvard in the most recent year we have data available. Graduates who receive their degree from the theology & religious vocations program make about $33,266 in their early career salary.
Located in the large suburb of Saint Louis, Concordia Seminary is a private not-for-profit school with a small student population.
There were approximately 125 theology & religious vocations students who graduated with this degree at Concordia Seminary in the most recent year we have data available. Theology & Religious Vocations degree recipients from Concordia Seminary receive an earnings boost of around $37,635 over the typical income of theology & religious vocations majors.
Olivet Nazarene is a small private not-for-profit university located in the suburb of Bourbonnais. This university ranks 33rd out of 85 schools for overall quality in the state of Illinois.
There were roughly 83 theology & religious vocations students who graduated with this degree at Olivet Nazarene in the most recent year we have data available. Those theology & religious vocations students who get their degree from Olivet Nazarene University earn $11,280 more than the typical theology & religious vocations student.
Luther Seminary is a small private not-for-profit school located in the large city of Saint Paul.
There were roughly 128 theology & religious vocations students who graduated with this degree at Luther Seminary in the most recent year we have data available. Theology & Religious Vocations degree recipients from Luther Seminary receive an earnings boost of approximately $28,397 over the typical income of theology & religious vocations majors.
CCU is a moderately-sized private not-for-profit university located in the medium-sized city of Lakewood. This university ranks 14th out of 33 schools for overall quality in the state of Colorado.
There were approximately 176 theology & religious vocations students who graduated with this degree at CCU in the most recent data year. Those theology & religious vocations students who get their degree from Colorado Christian University make $4,833 more than the standard theology & religious vocations graduate.
Located in the town of Wilmore, Asbury Seminary is a private not-for-profit school with a small student population.
There were about 295 theology & religious vocations students who graduated with this degree at Asbury Seminary in the most recent data year. Theology & Religious Vocations degree recipients from Asbury Theological Seminary get an earnings boost of approximately $9,605 over the average income of theology & religious vocations graduates.
Johnson University is a small private not-for-profit university located in the rural area of Knoxville.
There were roughly 261 theology & religious vocations students who graduated with this degree at Johnson University in the most recent data year. Soon after graduating, theology & religious vocations degree recipients usually make about $27,263 at the beginning of their careers.
Located in the large suburb of Saint Paul, Northwestern is a private not-for-profit university with a small student population. This university ranks 21st out of 52 colleges for overall quality in the state of Minnesota.
There were approximately 231 theology & religious vocations students who graduated with this degree at Northwestern in the most recent data year. After graduating, theology & religious vocations degree recipients typically earn an average of $34,692 in their early careers.
Located in the large city of Nashville, Vanderbilt is a private not-for-profit university with a large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #19 out of 2,217 schools nationwide means Vanderbilt is a great university overall.
There were approximately 57 theology & religious vocations students who graduated with this degree at Vanderbilt in the most recent data year. Theology & Religious Vocations degree recipients from Vanderbilt University earn a boost of approximately $4,834 above the typical earnings of theology & religious vocations graduates.
Rest of the Top Best Theology & Religious Vocations Schools
Honorable Mentions
These are some additional schools worth mentioning that are also great but just didn't quite make the cut to earn our top Best Theology & Religious Vocations Schools award.
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).
Credit for the banner image above goes to Daderot.