Seminaries with programs for the Laity

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I have been looking for a Catholic university to attend to learn theology and philosophy. I am hoping to teach at a university such as Marquette in Milwaukee or Loyola in Chicago. Getting a solid traditional Catholic education and then transferring that traditional Catholic teaching to a secularized/modernized university (like many of the Jesuit colleges are becoming:blush:) is my goal. I figured that a solid Catholic seminary would offer the rigorous classes as well as a solid spiritual formation. Does anyone know of a traditional seminary (maybe ICKSP, FSSP, or solid diocesan seminary) that offers a graduate degree for a lay student in either theology or philosophy?

I live in North Eastern Wisconsin. I love attending the TLM Mass in the area :). If worse would come to worse I would attend Marquette University and attend Mass at near by St. Stanislous 👍. Any tips or suggestions would be helpful.

Lastly, please don’t mention the universities on the Newman Guide. I’ve already looked into those and will continue to review their programs.
 
Interesting question. How many seminaries offer doctoral programs? Locally, St. John’s Seminary offers a program for laypeople but it’s only at the master’s level so that wouldn’t help anyway. Or are you thinking of getting a master’s degree and then going on for the doctorate?
 
I attended a seminary for my MA and DMin. The classes were top notch but lacked spiritual formation for lay students.
 
gundam128 said:
I am hoping to teach at a university such as Marquette in Milwaukee or Loyola in Chicago. Getting a solid traditional Catholic education and then transferring that traditional Catholic teaching to a secularized/modernized university (like many of the Jesuit colleges are becoming:blush:) is my goal.
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Just FYI, Jesuits and their institutions aren’t bound by “traditional” structures because that is part of their founder’s wishes. For example, you’ll have a philosophy class, but you’ll also read some social science books because it relates to the subject. A friend who went to a “traditional Catholic” school said that he would never have encountered this if it weren’t for that class we were taking at the time.

Second, you’ll need a doctorate at minimum. If you’re going for tenure, be prepared for extreme competition and MANY years of adjunct professorship before even becoming eligible for the tenure track (which is few and far between). Good Luck!
 
SuscipeMeDomine said:
Interesting question. How many seminaries offer doctoral programs? Locally, St. John’s Seminary offers a program for laypeople but it’s only at the master’s level so that wouldn’t help anyway. Or are you thinking of getting a master’s degree and then going on for the doctorate?
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I will be finishing education at a technical college in my area this spring of 2014 :). So I’ll first need a Bachelors Degree before anything. Are there any seminaries that offer Bachelor Degree programs for the laity?

A question for everyone who has attended Marquette and took courses in theology and philosophy, could you give me your description of your experience with those programs?
 
I would look to either Wyoming Catholic College or Thomas More College in Texas. Sorry, I’m not a Jesuit fan.
 
St. Charles Borromeo Seminary in Philadelphia offers both an undergraduate degree in theology (vatican diploma) as well as a M.A. in theology for the laity. You can take the undergraduate courses and then move right into the M.A. program if you wish. The seminary is diocesan and solidly faithful to the Magisterium.
 
Another option to consider is studying at a Pontifical University in Rome. It’s MUCH cheaper than studying here in the U.S.
 
Thanks to all of you for your suggestions. Due to all the responses, there does not seem to be any solid Catholic Universities in Wisconsin. If anyone had a suggestion for a conservative/traditional Catholic college within Wisconsin that would be helpful. Also seems that a lay person would have a difficult time finding a seminary with a program open to the laity in Wisconsin.

I’ve also been looking into Marquette University a little more. Although i’m weary of the Jesuit colleges, I’ve been pondering the idea of attending classes there that are taught by faithful, conservative/traditional Catholic professors (not progressive, liberal, watered down Catholic/Protestant professors). So if anyone knows of professors like that who teach at Marquette, that would be very helpful information as well!
 
gundam128 said:
I’ve also been looking into Marquette University a little more. Although i’m weary of the Jesuit colleges, I’ve been pondering the idea of attending classes there that are taught by faithful, conservative/traditional Catholic professors (not progressive, liberal, watered down Catholic/Protestant professors). So if anyone knows of professors like that who teach at Marquette, that would be very helpful information as well!
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Funny you say that, because the best Old Testament professor I ever had was actually a Quaker. I would always take pride in the discussions when he’d say things like, “You know, you Catholics got this right.” Don’t dismiss a professor just because s/he isn’t Catholic.
 
janeway529 said:
Funny you say that, because the best Old Testament professor I ever had was actually a Quaker. I would always take pride in the discussions when he’d say things like, “You know, you Catholics got this right.” Don’t dismiss a professor just because s/he isn’t Catholic.
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I’m not dismissing a professor because he/she is not a Catholic. I merely would like to be taught by Catholics at a Catholic University…If I’m paying the money for a “Catholic Education” why would I want to be taught by a bunch of non-Catholics? I’m fine with non-Catholics teaching general education classes, but when it comes to classes such as the Early Church, and Biblical study courses (which need to follow the interpretation of the Church) I would like a faithful Catholic professor.
 
gundam128 said:
I’m not dismissing a professor because he/she is not a Catholic. I merely would like to be taught by Catholics at a Catholic University…If I’m paying the money for a “Catholic Education” why would I want to be taught by a bunch of non-Catholics? I’m fine with non-Catholics teaching general education classes, but when it comes to classes such as the Early Church, and Biblical study courses (which need to follow the interpretation of the Church) I would like a faithful Catholic professor.
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All Catholic universities that offer philosophy and theology will teach from a Catholic perspective, regardless of the professor’s religious affiliation or opinion. (I had a Lutheran professor for Early Church history and a Quaker for Old Testament. Both taught the interpretation of the Church, while giving their perspective from their respective traditions. It brought much fruit to our class discussions which were maintained as civil and respectful.) Both Early Church and Biblical courses will use the same historical-critical method, which is the accepted method in the scholastic field (a method started by the Protestants and adopted by the Catholics, btw).
 
janeway529 said:
Another option to consider is studying at a Pontifical University in Rome. It’s MUCH cheaper than studying here in the U.S.
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Tuition is lower but cost of living is rather high, as is transportation…
 
gundam128 said:
I have been looking for a Catholic university to attend to learn theology and philosophy. I am hoping to teach at a university such as Marquette in Milwaukee or Loyola in Chicago. Getting a solid traditional Catholic education and then transferring that traditional Catholic teaching to a secularized/modernized university (like many of the Jesuit colleges are becoming:blush:) is my goal. I figured that a solid Catholic seminary would offer the rigorous classes as well as a solid spiritual formation. Does anyone know of a traditional seminary (maybe ICKSP, FSSP, or solid diocesan seminary) that offers a graduate degree for a lay student in either theology or philosophy?

I live in North Eastern Wisconsin. I love attending the TLM Mass in the area :). If worse would come to worse I would attend Marquette University and attend Mass at near by St. Stanislous 👍. Any tips or suggestions would be helpful.

Lastly, please don’t mention the universities on the Newman Guide. I’ve already looked into those and will continue to review their programs.
Click to expand...
If your goal is to teach at a Jesuit University, you’re probably going to need to get a PhD, particularly as a lay person; STD or ThD won’t likely cut it. Just FYI; good luck with your search!
 
Hi gundam,

I live in Wisconsin and I am posting some links here for you for two universities that might be of interest to you:

One is for St. Norbert’s College. It offers graduate degrees and it offers one in Theology. It is located in De Pere, WI, which is up near Green Bay.

Here is the link for it:

snc.edu/

The other school is Cardinal Stritch University, and it has several different campuses, including a campus in Milwaukee, WI. It offers graduate degrees as well. It offers a Masters of Arts in Religious Studies.

Here is the link for Cardinal Stritch:

stritch.edu/

Both of these schools have been around for a long time, and from what I understand, they both have good reputations.
 
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