Academic Catalog and Handbooks

2025-2026 Edition

SOT Graduate Policies

Admission Requirements

The application and recommendations should be submitted electronically whenever possible. Official transcripts may be mailed to:

Director of Admission
Saint John's School of Theology and Seminary
P.O. Box 7288
Collegeville, MN 56321

Most other documents can be submitted as email attachments to gradschool@csbsju.edu.

Applicants for M.A., M.Div., and M.T.S.

  1. A completed application form.
  2. A bachelor’s degree from an accredited college or the equivalent.
    • Applicants for the Master of Arts in Liturgical Music: A bachelor’s degree in music or the equivalent from an accredited institution
  3. Official transcripts of post-secondary coursework sent directly from the Registrar's Office to the Director of Admission for the School of Theology and Seminary (see address above).
  4. Recommendations are required as follows:  
  5. Lay applicants for the Master of Divinity: One of the three letters must come from an employer who can speak to the applicant's potential for ministry.
  6. Applicants for the Master of Arts in Liturgical Music: Two of the three letters must come from music instructors.
  7. Applicants from religious communities: One of the three letters must come from a major superior.

Results of either the Miller Analogy Test (MAT) or the Graduate Record Exam (GRE) sent directly to the director of admission for the School of Theology and Seminary (Institutional Code: 6624; Department Code: 4902).
The MAT/GRE requirement is waived for applicants who already have a masters and/or doctorate degree(s).

  1. International students generally demonstrate proficiency in the English language with the TOEFL (Test of English as a Foreign Language) or MELAB (Michigan English Language Assessment Battery) should be sent directly to the director of admission for the School of Theology and Seminary.
  2. Typewritten narrative of 1250 to 1500 words: Describe the life experiences that have had a significant impact on your personal growth and development with particular attention to the ways these experiences have revealed both your strengths and areas for improvement. Describe your view of the Church in the next decade and the role you might have in the ministry of the Church. Outline the desired goals you wish to achieve at Saint John's and how Saint John's can assist in the fulfillment of your personal, professional, and educational goals.
  3. Résumé outlining personal, educational and professional backgrounds.
  4. List of books and articles read in the previous three years.
  5. Applicants for the Master of Arts in Liturgical Music: An audition and interview with the music faculty is required. Entrance Expectations: Audition and Interview

Priesthood Candidates

Admission requirements for degree applicants, outlined above, are required for priesthood candidates as well as the following documents:

  1. One of the three recommendations must come from the bishop, vocation director, or religious superior.
  2. An autobiography of 7-10 pages.
  3. Certificates of Baptism and Confirmation (photocopies accepted if the religious community has original documents).
  4. A statement from a physician indicating the results of a recent physical examination.

Applicants for Th.M.

(note—see details above)

  1. A completed application form. Bachelor's degree and a graduate theological degree from an accredited college or the equivalent
  2. Official transcripts of post-secondary coursework
  3. Two letters of recommendation from educational contacts
  4. Writing Sample1
  5. Resume/CV
1

Th.M. applicants are required to submit a writing sample of 15-20 pages, including bibliography and footnotes. A graduate paper or chapter of a thesis is acceptable. A personal statement of not more than 750 words is also required:

  • Reflect upon the development of your personal and professional goals since you began graduate theological study. Why do you wish to study at Saint John's?

Documents can be submitted as email attachments to gradschool@csbsju.edu.

Guidelines for Distance Education and Student Verification

The School of Theology and Seminary has established these procedures for verifying student identity for students enrolling in fully on- line DEGREES and registering for COURSES for remote participation in each term

DEGREES

The School of Theology and Seminary offers three degrees that can be earned fully on-line:

  •  The Master of Arts in Ministry    (MAM)
  • The Master of Arts in Theology  (MAT)
  • The Master of Theology  (ThM)

Only these three degrees can be earned fully on-line.  For all other degrees students may have a combination of in person and remote participation courses.  Students in other degree programs must do 50%+ 1 credit of their degree work in in-person course formats.

Through the process of admissions the student declares intent to earn a degree fully on-line.  This means that all of their course work can be undertaken in SYNCHRONOUS courses (participating in real-time classes remotely through Zoom Conference) or through ASYNCHRONOUS courses (courses designed as full web courses with no live-time meetings).  Students in all degrees must participate in Capstone projects for each degree with a live “real time” Comprehensive Exam, Thesis Defense, or Portfolio Presentation, either in person or over Zoom.

Students in a fully on-line plan may change their plans and come to campus for in-person classes at any time.

The School of Theology and Seminary will monitor student progress in fully-on-line degree work and verify student identity and participation in each course (please see below) and in the Capstone projects in live-time.

Students who do not declare their fully-on-line intent but are nearing the end of their programs may opt in to the fully on-line plan, but must still participate in Capstone projects in live-time.

REGISTRATION

Nearly all courses in the School of Theology and Seminary are available for participation either face-to-face (in classroom) or remotely by ZOOM Conference.  When students register for courses they must choose their mode of participation: 

  • Register for section 001 for a course in person
  • Register for section 002 for remote participation

This registration will be cross checked with the students by the Director of Student Services prior to the course start.

This registration assists the Registrar office in tracking students in remote participation sections.

The Director of Student Services will cross check student participation at several points of each semester.

VERIFYING IDENTITY

All students register for the first semester of studies using a Forms Manager form from which registration is generated.  This registration triggers the following communications:

  1. Student receives a confirmation of registration forms received and directions for accessing a CSBSJU IT Services account which is generated from the registration process.  In order to access the accounts, students will receive a one-time password to verify identity.
  2. Students will create and use an IT Services passphrase and secondary authentication via a Duo Application, which is tied to student’s established cellphone device.
  3.  Students will be directed to send in a photo for creation of a student ID Card.  This photo must follow the ID card guidelines.  The ID card is generated at Saint John’s Life Safety Services, activated for library access, and mailed to the student.
  4. This Student ID photo will be downloaded into a registered student database with the School of Theology and Seminary for each term; the Director of Student Services and class instructor will use the ID photo database to verify the identity of students as they join in live-time class meetings.  The Director of Student Services will verify student identity for remote participation students in an entrance interview and for the first three class meetings and at random points throughout a semester.  Since the participation in classes remotely is managed by invitation to Zoom meetings sent by the instructor, and the student must use the CSBSJU passphrase and Duo authentication to join a course on Zoom, the process is quite secure.
  5. All course assignments must be submitted through CANVAS  for the course in which a student is enrolled, or through CSBSJU email accounts.  Instructors who have reason to question the source of student coursework submissions should report their concerns to the School of Theology and Seminary administration and CSBSJU IT Services.
  6. In the event that identity cannot be verified or seems compromised, a participant in question will be removed from the Zoom conference and CSBSJU IT Services will be contacted to manage verifying student identity and re-establishing a student’s access to a class.
  7. Student identity for remote participation is verified in every course at multiple points across each semester, and in Capstone events and an exit interview before a degree is awarded.
  8. A remote student who knowingly compromises the identity verification, passphrase or Duo authentication security or other aspects of access to a Zoom class conference or coursework submissions will be suspended from participating in the class until the situation has been resolved or investigated by CSBSJU IT services and the School of Theology and Seminary administration.

Determination of Student Location

Purpose

This policy establishes how the College of Saint Benedict (CSB) and Saint John’s University (SJU) determine the primary location of prospective and enrolled students in accordance with the state authorization requirements of 34 CFR § 600.9(c), the program participation agreement certification requirements of 34 CFR § 668.14(b), the professional licensure disclosure requirements of 34 CFR §668.43(a)(5)(v) and 668.43(c), the National Council for State Authorization Reciprocity Agreement (NC-SARA) (Manual 21.1), and other applicable requirements.

Federal regulations require that for programs leading to licensure, the CSB and SJU must certify that the program meets educational requirements for licensure where the institution is located and where distance education students are located. Additionally, the CSB and SJU must notify students if academic programs meet or do not meet the U.S. State or territory requirements for professional licensure or certification in the State in which they are located.

Scope

This policy applies to all CSB and SJU prospective and current students (US and International). This policy applies to students in all modalities including but not limited to students who are enrolled as full-time and part-time students.

Definitions

Student Type Definitions

  • Admitted Student: A student who receives a letter of admission to CSB and SJU. The student is not yet considered a current student.
  • Current Student: An individual who has been admitted and who has paid the tuition deposit and has not graduated or been discontinued or otherwise dismissed from CSB and SJU. Current students have the ability to enroll.
  • Enrolled Student: A student who is registered for coursework in the current semester.
  • Prospective Student: An individual who has submitted a complete college admissions application including all required documents for admission decision review and does not meet the definition of an admitted or current student.

Address Type Definitions

  • Local: The address at which an enrolled student has identified as “a physical address, not on the CSB or SJU campuses, where the student puts their head down at night.” A local address cannot be the same address as the Permanent/Home address.
  • Mailing: The address at which a student has identified as the address where they will receive USPS mail. If a student does not indicate a mailing address at the time of application, the mailing address will be assigned the same address as indicated in the Permanent/Home Address.
  • Permanent/Home Address: The address of the student designating their permanent principal home as provided to CSB and SJU on the application for admission or otherwise indicated in the student information system of record; it is the address where the student considers their permanent address and intends to stay or return to if the student is temporarily living at another address.

Determining Student Location

A student’s location is determined in the following manner:

Undergraduate students

All students pursuing an undergraduate degree program are required to relocate to, or near , the CSB and SJU campuses to participate in face-to-face, non-distance education programs, so their location will be considered the state of Minnesota[BC5] [OT6] .

Graduate students

A prospective or admitted student’s location is the state of the prospective student’s residency at the time the student has applied for admission, intends to enroll and is then entered into the student information system. For students whose permanent address does not include a U.S. state or territory (e.g., students living outside the United States), their location will be considered the state of Minnesota.

A current or enrolled student’s location is determined by the physical address where the student puts their head down at night. Priority of addresses from the student information system utilized in this determination are:

  1. Residential, on-campus address
  2. Local address
  3. Permanent/Home address

For students whose permanent address does not include a U.S. state or territory (e.g., students living outside the United States), their location will be considered the state of Minnesota.

Procedure for Updating Student Location

Relocation during the course of a program

Licensing and authorization requirements can vary by State therefore any relocation by prospective and current students can impact their ability to continue a course, meet the eligibility requirements of that State, and/or receive financial aid funding. Any student considering relocation should consult with their program’s department chair to check for authorization and licensure eligibility requirements. It is the student's responsibility to seek guidance on this issue prior to relocation.

On at least an annual basis, the Colleges will send a notice to current students to review current address information in the student information system, and if address updates are required, students will be required to submit the student change of address form available on the Registrar’s Office online forms page available in my.csbsju.edu.

Reporting Student Location

When student location data is needed for data reporting purposes, such as reports required by the U.S. Department of Education or the National Council for State Authorization Reciprocity Agreements (NC-SARA), the Colleges will follow the applicable reporting entity’s rules for determining student location.