What's a good Catholic school to study theology?

  • Thread starter Thread starter junostarlighter
  • Start date Start date
Status
Not open for further replies.
J

junostarlighter

Guest
Does anyone know of a good Catholic college that has a top notch theology program? I put this into the Sacred Scripture category because I’m looking into focusing my study towards Sacred Scripture, although I would also love to teach Church history and whatnot. Any suggestions?
 
I am in the middle of applying to FUS. I’ve also looked at a couple of other places: Catholic University of America, Notre Dame University, & Ave Maria. How do these schools compare with their theology departments?
 
junostarlighter said:
I am in the middle of applying to FUS. I’ve also looked at a couple of other places: Catholic University of America, Notre Dame University, & Ave Maria. How do these schools compare with their theology departments?
Click to expand...
:mad:
Catholic University of America,
Notre Dame University

👍
Ave Maria
 
As a university which is just starting out, I have heard that Ave Maria lacks accreditation. Visiting their acceditation webpage shows that they are licensed and authorized by the state of Florida, but doesn’t list any approvals by accrediting agencies (for example, the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges). This is to be expected since accreditation is a quality assurance review of their education programs… and they have to be teaching before they can be reviewed. Still, and I may be wrong, but I think that degrees from unaccredited schools are sometimes not honored. And this might be important to consider.
 
As far as Ave Maria University goes…I had an opp this summer to attend a talk by Dr. Mary Healy, who teaches at Ave Maria. AWESOME!

You’d have no problems there. I dont’ think accreditation is an issue with having degrees accepted. When I was in college, I started in a college…and then they obtained accreditation as a University so I graduated from the University. The accreditation has more to do with their status as far as programs offered, etc, than anything else. No problem with you degree being recognized.

As far as other suggestions…Universtiy of St. Thomas (UST) in St. Paul, MN.

I am currently applying for an MA degree in their Catholic Studies program. They have an undergrad in CS, as well as attachment to St. Paul Seminary and St. John Vianney Seminary at their School of Divinity.

GREAT school,which seems to be becoming better over time.
 
Dale_M said:
As a university which is just starting out, I have heard that Ave Maria lacks accreditation. Visiting their acceditation webpage shows that they are licensed and authorized by the state of Florida, but doesn’t list any approvals by accrediting agencies (for example, the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges). This is to be expected since accreditation is a quality assurance review of their education programs… and they have to be teaching before they can be reviewed. Still, and I may be wrong, but I think that degrees from unaccredited schools are sometimes not honored. And this might be important to consider.
Click to expand...
I recently looked on their website as I have been considering going to Ave Maria for a Master’s or Doctorate in theology, and it said that their accreditation is pending, so I assume that they will be accredited within a few years. I’m currently an undergrad at the University of Kentucky (sophomore, but I’ll be a junior after this semester) and am also thinking about joining the Marine Corps reserves, which would delay my graduation, so I am hoping that by the time I finish with all that Ave Maria will be accredited!
 
If you want an academially rigorous university, you should aim for a place that offers doctoral research degrees (Ph.D or STD, not just D.Min.). There are not that many, and most small Catholic liberal arts colleges do not have advcanced degrees. In the U.S. these places are:

University of Notre Dame
Boston College
The Catholic University of America
Fordham University
Graduate Theological Union (Berkely)
Marquette University
Loyola University, Chicago

There’s also the University of Toronto in Canada, or the Roman pontifical universities like the Angelicum or the Gregorian.

It also depends what intersts you, and what you are looking for. Notre Dame is probably the most academically rigorous and most competitive Catholic theology program in the english-speaking world, and its a strong Catholic atmosphere (despite the whole Obama thing) on campus for an undergrad, but you really will study theology, not just apologetics and Catholic philosophy like you would get at Ave Maria or Stubenville.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top