List of Catholic Online/Distance Education graduate degrees

  • Thread starter Thread starter Marie_Katherine
  • Start date Start date
Status
Not open for further replies.
Thanks for starting this thread. I came upon this while researching online programs in religious studies. Maybe someone out there can help me. I am a first year religion coordinator at a Catholic elementary school and would like to get a degree in religious studies. I have achieved a Master Catechist certificate through my diocese (Cleveland) and want to expand my education. Any recommendations on an affordable option? I am a bit overwhelmed with all the options and not sure which direction I should go.
Blessings!
 
TeaBull said:
Thanks for starting this thread. I came upon this while researching online programs in religious studies. Maybe someone out there can help me. I am a first year religion coordinator at a Catholic elementary school and would like to get a degree in religious studies. I have achieved a Master Catechist certificate through my diocese (Cleveland) and want to expand my education. Any recommendations on an affordable option? I am a bit overwhelmed with all the options and not sure which direction I should go.
Blessings!
Click to expand...
Hi TeaBull,
I work at CDU, so I can speak a little bit to our offerings: Teachers, catechists, DRE’s and principals are among the students CDU serves, so you’d be in good company. Catholic Distance University offers a variety of ways for those who serve the Church to expand their education. CDU’s MA in Theology, with a concentration in Ecclesial Service, would enhance your professional credentials while giving you a broad theological and methodological basis for serving the people of God. If the full degree is too much of a commitment, CDU has a graduate certificate in Sacred Scripture, and will soon be launching other graduate certificates - these are essentially half of an MA, allowing the student to focus on a particular area of interest.

Or, if you are not looking for an accredited degree but rather a continuing education certification, there are a number of them offered by CDU - probably the Advanced Catechist certificate would be appropriate in your case, but you would want to discuss that with the dean of catechetics or the admissions officer at CDU. CDU recently reduced the fees associated with earning continuing education certificates like the Advanced Catechist cert.

I hope that is helpful! God bless your work,

Damian
 
Thank you Damian. Your response was very helpful. May I ask? What is the difference between the graduate certificate you mentioned and the Advanced Cat. certificate?
 
Avila Institute has on-line graduate and personal enrichment courses in many Catholic areas including spiritual direction. They offer scholarships and payment plans for those in need.
 
TeaBull said:
Thank you Damian. Your response was very helpful. May I ask? What is the difference between the graduate certificate you mentioned and the Advanced Cat. certificate?
Click to expand...
The graduate certificates are half of an MA in Theology - they are the half focusing on a particular topic like Scripture or Church History. Those graduate credits can be used toward an MA if you decide to go that way later on. The Advanced Catechist certificate focuses more on teaching, so it includes more teaching methodology. And it is continuing-ed level, so those courses do not contribute toward a degree.

God bless,
Damian
 
Much obliged concerning beginning this string. I happened upon this while exploring online projects in religious studies. Perhaps somebody who might be listening can help me. I am a first year religion facilitator at a Catholic rudimentary school and might want to get a degree in religious studies from bit.ly/1hiz3lz. I have accomplished a Master Catechist authentication through my ward and need to grow my instruction.
 
Hi All,

Does anyone have any experience with one of the following online universities?
And if so how would you rate your experience?

Franciscan University of Steubenville
John Paul The Great Catholic University
CDU
DeSales University

Thanks
 
Is there a price comparison for these programs listed anywhere? Like on the USCCB website? (I’m sorry I’m not in front of my computer to look it up myself)

I am looking for a masters in theology but checked to nearby seminaries (both over an hour) and it’s over $12,000.
 
I’m looking for something that also offers a discount for Catholic school teachers. My funds are very limited.
 
Rgobio said:
I have tried all the above links to online theology courses. They all require me to be American. Is there any university that will allow a Canadian to take theology courses?

Thanks for the help.
Click to expand...
My thoughts too. I’d hope for something affordable and accessible to a Canadian. The tuition fees for a US citizen is already great in comparison to what we pay here; I can’t imagine how much more we’d pay as foreign/international students.

In any case, I’ll be following this thread as I am also very interested!

I don’t think pontifical universities offer an MA in Theology or Philosophy online, but I can only hope. But I’d also be happy with one from a non-pontifical Catholic university. 👍
 
jaimeleglise said:
Avila Institute has on-line graduate and personal enrichment courses in many Catholic areas including spiritual direction. They offer scholarships and payment plans for those in need.
Click to expand...
I think it would be worthwhile to note that that educational institution is not accredited (I just checked).
 
MyNameIsDan said:
My thoughts too. I’d hope for something affordable and accessible to a Canadian. The tuition fees for a US citizen is already great in comparison to what we pay here; I can’t imagine how much more we’d pay as foreign/international students.

In any case, I’ll be following this thread as I am also very interested!

I don’t think pontifical universities offer an MA in Theology or Philosophy online, but I can only hope. But I’d also be happy with one from a non-pontifical Catholic university. 👍
Click to expand...
The Augustine Institute has a number of Canadian students in its distance education program. There is no additional fee for foreign students; but tuition does have to be paid in US dollars, so there may be a de-facto conversion penalty (or bonus!). Usually credit cards handle such things.
 
Its a a great list which assist people in completing thier education without any problem. Some of other good online institutions which assist in helping people who cannot somehow carry out thier educaion are uaeonlinedegrees.com, phoenix, and catholic. These are accredited online platforms which are used by many young and working adults.
 
TheTick said:
The Augustine Institute has a number of Canadian students in its distance education program. There is no additional fee for foreign students; but tuition does have to be paid in US dollars, so there may be a de-facto conversion penalty (or bonus!). Usually credit cards handle such things.
Click to expand...
Also, the A.I. is now accredited.
 
Marie_Katherine said:
Hello everyone!

I’m compiling a list of Catholic seminaries/colleges/universities that offer graduate degrees via distance, online, or intensives and wanted to see if we could get a thorough list together here.

So far, I’ve found:

The Franciscan University of Steubenville
franciscan.edu/DistanceLearning/

Catholic Distance University
cdu.edu/

The Augustine Institute
augustineinstitute.org/

Holy Apostles College and Seminary
holyapostles.edu/distance-learninghttp://www.holyapostles.edu/distance-learning

All of these are accredited except the Augustine Institute.

Does anyone know of any other degree programs to add to this list? I think it would be helpful for those looking into ordained, lay ministry, academic ministry, or simply for personal spiritual enrichment, to compile as thorough a list as possible. I’ve been focusing on places that offer MAs, but adding schools that offer other degrees would be helpful too.

*(Another fun source is the Catholic Home Study Service. They don’t offer degrees or diplomas or certificates, just **free ***correspondence courses for personal spiritual enrichment. I’m doing one of them now and thoroughly recommend it (another CAF person suggested it to me). It’s great for newbie Catholics like me 😛 :
amm.org/chss/chss.asp ).
Click to expand...
Update: the Augustine Institute is now accredited.
 
Christendom offers a M.A. online.
You might also check into the University of Dallas, as our Archdiocese is supporting their Masters that is linked to pastoral work on the part of the laity-and the online program at Steubenville as well.
Many schools do require an ‘in person’ thesis defense or may require that a particular course be taken on site, so make sure you check into this at any school which interests you.
May God bless all who visit this thread.
Amen.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top