Graduate Theological Education in Transition: Analyzing Two Decades of Enrollment and Programmatic Change

Abstract Seminaries in the United States have for more than two centuries sought to equip ministerial leaders for service within the community of faith. And yet these institutions have traditionally been the focus of very little quantitative research. This lack of data is particularly noteworthy given the existential crises many seminaries currently face, especially regarding their flagship Master of Divinity (MDiv) programs. Among seminary leadership, a common response to declining MDiv enrollment has been to decrease the length of the program—which historically required at least 90 credit hours—and to increase Master of Arts (MA) offerings. The purpose of this quantitative study was to explore the extent to which these programmatic changes may be explained by institutional theory. Longitudinal data were analyzed to examine change at Association of Theological Schools member institutions (AMIs) related to enrollment and degree program trends and MDiv credit-hour reductions. The results revealed that AMIs have changed in significant and similar ways over the past twenty years and that these changes appear to be prompted, at least in part, by isomorphic pressures from peer institutions.

• Publication year

  2025

• Venue

  Christian Higher Education

• Publication date

  2025-03-15

• Fields of study

  Not labeled

• Identifiers
  DOI 10.1080/15363759.2025.2465509
• External record

  Open on Semantic Scholar

• Source metadata

  Semantic Scholar

• No claims are published for this paper.

• No concepts are published for this paper.

• The end of theological education

  2024cited by this paper
• Beyond Profession: The Next Future of Theological Education

  2022cited by this paper
• How Institutional Identity Shapes College Student Recruitment: The Relationship Between Religious Distinctiveness and Market Demand

  2021cited by this paper
• Choose Your Friends Wisely: How Organizational Identity Influences Behavior at U.S. Colleges and Universities

  2019cited by this paper
• Factors That Predict Institutional Adoption of Entry-Level Physical Therapist Education Programs.

  2019cited by this paper
• The Discounting Dilemma: Institutional Benefits, Unintended Consequences, and Principles for Reform

  2019cited by this paper
• Do Public Universities Replace State Appropriations with Master's Students?

  2019cited by this paper
• Four Trends That May Portend the Future for ATS Enrollment

  2017cited by this paper
• The History of Theological Education

  2016cited by this paper
• Steering the Ship through Uncertain Waters: Empirical Analysis and the Future of Evangelical Higher Education

  2016cited by this paper
• Failing to Master Divinity: How Institutional Type, Financial Debt, Community Acceptance, and Gender Affect Seminary Graduates’ Career Choices

  2015cited by this paper
• Enrollment Pathways to Financial Sustainability: Choosing the Road Less Traveled

  2014cited by this paper
• Assessing the Denominational Identity of American Evangelical Colleges and Universities, Part I: Denominational Patronage and Institutional Policy

  2013cited by this paper
• Resisting Institutionalization: Religious Professionals in the Emerging Church*

  2011cited by this paper
• Organisation response to institutional pressures in Higher Education: the important role of the disciplines

  2011cited by this paper
• Earthen Vessels: Hopeful Reflections on the Work and Future of Theological Schools

  2008influential reference
• THE NEW INSTITUTIONALISM IN EDUCATION

  2007cited by this paper
• Academic Drift, Institutional Production, and Professional Distribution of Graduate Degrees in Educational Leadership

  2007cited by this paper
• Book Review: Theological Education Matters: Leadership Education for the Church

  2007cited by this paper
• American Educational History: School, Society, and the Common Good

  2007cited by this paper
• Educating Clergy: Teaching Practices and Pastoral Imagination

  2005cited by this paper
• Book Review: Techniques of Event History Modeling: New Approaches to Causal Analysis, 2nd ed.

  2005cited by this paper
• Institutions and Organizations (2nd ed.)

  2003cited by this paper
• Intentional change and the maintenance of mission: The impact of adult education programs on school mission at two evangelical colleges

  2002cited by this paper
• Using Institutional Theory To Reframe Research on Academic Drift.

  2002cited by this paper
• "A Rose by Any Other Name": Which Colleges Became Universities

  2002cited by this paper
• Quality with Soul: How Six Premier Colleges and Universities Keep Faith with Their Religious Traditions

  2001cited by this paper
• Diversification of Revenue Strategies: Evolving Resource Dependence in Nonprofit Organizations

  1999cited by this paper
• Managing Legitimacy: Strategic and Institutional Approaches

  1995cited by this paper
• It’s About Time: Using Discrete-Time Survival Analysis to Study Duration and the Timing of Events

  1993cited by this paper
• STRATEGIC RESPONSES TO INSTITUTIONAL PROCESSES

  1991cited by this paper
• Institutional Theories of Organization

  1987cited by this paper
• THE IRON CAGE REVISITED:

  1983influential reference
• The role of institutionalization in cultural persistence.

  1977cited by this paper

• No citing papers are available for this paper.