2024 Best Theological & Ministerial Studies Schools
131Colleges in the United States
15,832Theology Degrees Awarded
$40,590Avg Early-Career Salary
If you plan on majoring in theological & ministerial studies, you won't be alone since the degree program is ranked #63 in the country in terms of popularity. This means you won't have too much trouble finding schools that offer the degree.
College Factual reviewed 131 schools in the United States to determine which ones were the best for degree seekers in the field of theological & ministerial studies. When you put them all together, these colleges and universities awarded 15,832 degrees in theological & ministerial studies during the 2020-2021 academic year.
Choosing a Great Theological & Ministerial Studies School
The theology program you select can have a big impact on your future. That's why we developed our collection of Best Schools for Theological & Ministerial Studies rankings. We derive our Best Overall Theological & Ministerial Studies 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.
Theological & Ministerial Studies Rankings by Degree Level
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 Schools list to help you make the college decision.
You can also filter this list by location to find schools closer to you.
In addition to College Factual's rankings, you may want to take a look at College Combat, our unique tool that lets you pit your favorite schools head-to-head and compare how they rate on factors that most interest you.
When you have some time, check it out - you may want to bookmark the link so you don't forget it.
Best Schools for Theological & Ministerial Studies in the United States
The schools below may not offer all types of theology degrees so you may want to filter by degree level first. However, they are great for the degree levels they do offer. 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 country for getting a degree in theological & ministerial studies. Fuller is a small private not-for-profit school located in the medium-sized city of Pasadena.
There were approximately 378 theological & ministerial studies students who graduated with this degree at Fuller in the most recent year we have data available. Degree recipients from the theological & ministerial studies major at Fuller Theological Seminary get $6,344 above the standard graduate in this field when they enter the workforce.
Every student who is interested in theological & ministerial studies has to check out Duke University. 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 about 185 theological & ministerial studies students who graduated with this degree at Duke in the most recent data year. Degree recipients from the theological & ministerial studies major at Duke University get $10,907 above the standard college graduate with the same degree shortly after graduation.
Any student pursuing a degree in theological & ministerial studies needs to look into University of Notre Dame. Notre Dame is a fairly large private not-for-profit university located in the large suburb of Notre Dame. A Best Colleges rank of #20 out of 2,217 schools nationwide means Notre Dame is a great university overall.
There were roughly 139 theological & ministerial studies students who graduated with this degree at Notre Dame in the most recent data year. Graduates who receive their degree from the theology program make an average of $31,667 for their early career.
Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary is one of the best schools in the country for getting a degree in theological & ministerial studies. Located in the city of Kansas City, MBTS is a private not-for-profit school with a small student population.
There were roughly 464 theological & ministerial studies students who graduated with this degree at MBTS in the most recent year we have data available. Those theological & ministerial studies students who get their degree from Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary receive $11,536 more than the typical theology grad.
Yale is a fairly large private not-for-profit university located in the midsize city of New Haven. A Best Colleges rank of #8 out of 2,217 colleges nationwide means Yale is a great university overall.
There were roughly 124 theological & ministerial studies students who graduated with this degree at Yale in the most recent data year. Students who graduate with their degree from the theology program report average early career income of $41,037.
Located in the city of Lakeland, SEU is a private not-for-profit university with a fairly large student population. This university ranks 12th out of 77 schools for overall quality in the state of Florida.
There were about 466 theological & ministerial studies students who graduated with this degree at SEU in the most recent year we have data available.
Located in the city of Dallas, DTS Dallas is a private not-for-profit school with a small student population.
There were approximately 172 theological & ministerial studies students who graduated with this degree at DTS Dallas in the most recent year we have data available. Degree recipients from the theological & ministerial studies major at Dallas Theological Seminary get $11,107 more than the standard college graduate in this field when they enter the workforce.
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 roughly 145 theological & ministerial studies students who graduated with this degree at Emory in the most recent year we have data available. Students who graduate with their degree from the theology program report average early career income of $41,204.
UChicago is a fairly large private not-for-profit university located in the large city of Chicago. A Best Colleges rank of #2 out of 2,217 colleges nationwide means UChicago is a great university overall.
There were roughly 99 theological & ministerial studies students who graduated with this degree at UChicago in the most recent data year. Theological & Ministerial Studies degree recipients from University of Chicago get an earnings boost of approximately $2,581 above the typical income of theological & ministerial studies majors.
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 roughly 200 theological & ministerial studies students who graduated with this degree at Moody Theological Seminary and Graduate School in the most recent year we have data available. Students who graduate with their degree from the theology program report average early career earnings of $39,124.
Located in the town of Wilmore, Asbury Seminary is a private not-for-profit school with a small student population.
There were approximately 231 theological & ministerial studies students who graduated with this degree at Asbury Seminary in the most recent data year. Those theological & ministerial studies students who get their degree from Asbury Theological Seminary earn $5,035 more than the average theology student.
Located in the 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 schools nationwide means Harvard is a great university overall.
There were roughly 94 theological & ministerial studies students who graduated with this degree at Harvard in the most recent year we have data available. After graduating, theology degree recipients typically make about $33,266 in the first five years of their career.
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 theological & ministerial studies students who graduated with this degree at Concordia Seminary in the most recent data year. Those theological & ministerial studies students who get their degree from Concordia Seminary make $33,065 more than the typical theology graduate.
Luther Seminary is a fairly small private not-for-profit school located in the large city of Saint Paul.
There were roughly 127 theological & ministerial studies students who graduated with this degree at Luther Seminary in the most recent data year. Those theological & ministerial studies students who get their degree from Luther Seminary earn $23,827 more than the typical theology graduate.
Located in the large city of Nashville, Vanderbilt is a private not-for-profit university with a fairly 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 theological & ministerial studies students who graduated with this degree at Vanderbilt in the most recent data year. Graduates who receive their degree from the theology program make an average of $40,854 in their early career salary.
Located in the small city of Chestnut Hill, Boston College is a private not-for-profit college with a fairly large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #60 out of 2,217 colleges nationwide means Boston College is a great college overall.
There were approximately 110 theological & ministerial studies students who graduated with this degree at Boston College in the most recent data year. Those theological & ministerial studies students who get their degree from Boston College make $2,199 more than the standard theology graduate.
Biola is a moderately-sized private not-for-profit university located in the suburb of La Mirada. This university ranks 58th out of 168 schools for overall quality in the state of California.
There were roughly 93 theological & ministerial studies students who graduated with this degree at Biola in the most recent year we have data available. Students who graduate with their degree from the theology program state that they receive average early career income of $40,448.
Located in the suburb of Madison, Drew is a private not-for-profit university with a small student population. This university ranks 29th out of 44 colleges for overall quality in the state of New Jersey.
There were approximately 80 theological & ministerial studies students who graduated with this degree at Drew in the most recent data year. Degree recipients from the theological & ministerial studies degree program at Drew University make $22,714 above the average college graduate with the same degree when they enter the workforce.
Located in the rural area of Sewanee, Sewanee is a private not-for-profit university with a small student population. This university ranks 4th out of 45 schools for overall quality in the state of Tennessee.
There were about 31 theological & ministerial studies students who graduated with this degree at Sewanee in the most recent data year. Those theological & ministerial studies students who get their degree from Sewanee - The University of the South receive $31,217 more than the typical theology graduate.
Rest of the Top Best Theological & Ministerial Studies Schools
Honorable Mentions
Here are some additional great schools for Theological & Ministerial Studies students that almost earned our Best Theological & Ministerial Studies 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).