Shepherds' degree programs equip serious students for professional excellence and competence in ministry. The programs provide a range of disciplines that help students respond to God's call to ministry. We balance academically-challenging classroom study coupled with direct application under the mentoring of practicing ministers in local churches and ministries. Each program has different eligibility and degree requirements. The following pages describe each program in detail.

Masters Degrees
The Seminary offers a Master of Arts in Church Ministry with majors in Biblical Counseling, Biblical Literature, and Christian Ministry. This degree can serve as the first professional degree for ministry in a number of disciplines and positions in the local church either vocationally or as lay persons. The full-time student can complete academic course and mentored internship requirements in two years. The Master of Arts degree can be used as a stepping stone to the Master of Divinity.

The Master of Divinity program is designed to prepare pastors, missionaries, and other Christian workers for a life of effective kingdom service. This degree combines both academic and practical ministry interests enabling students to gain an in-depth foundation in Bible Exposition, Old Testament, New Testament, Systematic Theology, and the Christian worldview beyond that achieved in the Master of Arts degree. Requirements are structured around both a mentored apprenticeship and an academic thesis. It can be completed in three years of full-time study. On this basis, the graduate is prepared to enter immediately as a leader in the pastoral or mission fields, or pursue higher education such as Master of Theology, Doctor of Theology, or Doctor of Philosophy.

*A baccalaureate is required to enter the masters degree programs.

Other Degrees and Programs
The Seminary recognizes there are many who are prepared to invest their lives in church or mission vocations that require academic credentials. In some cases these individuals may not have the baccalaureate degree required to enter the traditional masters degree programs. The Seminary offers three degrees as a means for deserving students to achieve the required knowledge, training, and academic credentials.

The Certificate of Graduate Studies is designed for persons holding a baccalaureate who want to broaden and deepen their knowledge in a systematic fashion for spiritual growth and to invest time in ministry in a more intense fashion.

The Bachelor of Theology is designed for persons who have some undergraduate credit from a recognized college program. These undergraduate courses usually form the basic foundation expected of freshmen and sophomore students.

The Associate in Church Ministry is designed for a small number of applicants who have no undergraduate credit and usually are beyond the typical age of college students, or are located in a country where seminary access is limited. Students entering into these degree programs take the same courses as the traditional masters degree students and are expected to perform to the same graduate-school academic standards. We expect those students located outside the United States to be associated with a missionary organization or a local Bible school or seminary. These students are served by a combination of distance learning media, courses taught by Shepherds faculty in their country, and attending classes on Shepherds' campus.

*The nomenclature and course requirements of the Bachelor of Theology and Associate in Church Ministry are designed to emphasize the fact that in no case does the seminary offer graduate masters degrees for those who have not completed a baccalaureate program.