PhD/ICS Admission Requirements

In addition to the general doctoral admission requirements outlined in the application instructions of the catalog, applicants for the PhD/ICS program must fulfill several requirements:  

1. Have earned a Master of Divinity (MDiv) degree or appropriate master’s degree (totaling at least 48 semester hours) providing significant theological and missiological foundations from an institution maintaining academic standards similar to those of TEDS. Specifically applicants must have, at the graduate level, a minimum of 15 semester hours of Missions or Intercultural studies and 30 semester hours of Biblical/Theological studies, including a minimum of 6 semester hours of Old Testament, 6 semester hours of New Testament, 6 semester hours of Systematic Theology, and 3 semester hours of Church History.

2. Present evidence of potential for original academic research at the doctoral level by submitting a sample of published writing or a recent academic research paper if nothing has been published.

3. Have completed at least three years of vocational ministry experience, preferably in intercultural ministry, with evidence of relevant gifts and abilities.

4. Present evidence of competence in two languages: (1) a contemporary field language or research language for bibliographic control; and (2) one biblical language. (In exceptional circumstances, the biblical language requirement may be waived.)

5. Give evidence of a superior intellectual ability in all previous accredited graduate studies.

6. Have earned a cumulative grade point average of at least 3.5 (on a 4.0 scale) in previous graduate studies.

7. Submit a test score from either the Graduate Record Examination (GRE) General Test or the Miller Analogies Test (MAT), preferably the latter, which will be taken into consideration among other factors in the application. Applicants whose first language is not English should submit scores less than two years old from the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) instead of the MAT or GRE.

The requirements listed above should be understood as minimal requirements. Faculty select the applicants with the strongest qualifications. Applicants are assessed in terms of their total mix of strengths so that candidates who meet minimal requirements in one area may be accepted if they are exceptional in other respects. All other things being equal, for example, candidates with an MDiv will be given preference over candidates with an MA. However, it is the total mix of strengths that a candidate brings that will be considered in the selection process.

Updated to 2008-09 Catalog