Trinity Graduate School Application Instructions

Read through the following application instructions completely before filling out the application form. For your convenience and to save time, you may now apply online. Simply go to Trinity’s Web address, www.tiu.edu/apply, and follow the directions, or click here. The application fee may also be paid online.

1. Application Fee

You must submit a $25 nonrefundable application fee. Checks should be payable in $U.S. and drawn from a bank in the United States. For your convenience, fees may also be paid using Visa, MasterCard, or Discover. The master’s-level application fee is waived for graduates of Trinity International University’s various undergraduate programs and those who have already paid an application fee at the master’s level to Trinity Evangelical Divinity School or Trinity Graduate School (Deerfield, Davie, Santa Ana, or any of our listed extension sites).

2. Application Deadlines

We use a rolling admissions process for all of our master’s level applicants. However, we have established the following deadlines to allow the necessary time for review prior to the start of the semester:

Please note that because these deadlines fall shortly before the beginning of the semester, we strongly encourage you to apply six to twelve months in advance of your expected enrollment date.

Applications received after these deadlines may be subject to a $20 late application fee, and no applications will be considered for a given semester after the second week of that semester. (Note: Do not send the late application fee in with application unless notified to do so.)

3. Personal Statements

Be sure to enclose your typed personal statements, following the instructions on the application. Please put your name on the top right corner of each page.

4. Official Transcripts

An official transcript must come from each undergraduate school at which you have taken a minimum of three courses for credit and from each seminary or graduate school you have attended, even though the work may appear as transfer credit on another transcript. However, at schools where you have taken prerequisite course work needed for your program, you should have transcripts sent even if you took three courses or less. In order to be considered official, transcripts must be sent directly to our Admissions Office in sealed envelopes from each school.

5. Recommendation Forms

All Applicants:
Please complete the top portion of each recommendation form yourself:

1. Print your name.
2. Indicate the program to which you are applying.
3. Check the box identifying the recommender.
4. Sign either line “1” or “2.”

All recommendations should be sent directly to the Graduate School Admissions Office by the persons who complete them. The institution reserves the right to investigate the accuracy of information provided by the applicant.

Please have recommendations submitted from the following three people:

1. Pastor or church official
2. A faculty member or administrator familiar with your recent academic work (undergraduate or graduate)
3. An employer, professional acquaintance, or lay leader in your church

If you cannot locate one of your professors to submit a recommendation, please ask a leader in your church or parachurch group to complete one instead.

6. Standardized Tests

Applicants are required to submit test scores from either the Graduate Record Examination General Test (GRE) or the Miller Analogies Test (MAT). Please see special conditions concerning the TOEFL.

Trinity’s Deerfield Campus Counseling Center administers the MAT. If you live near this campus, you may make an appointment to take the test with the Counseling Center (847.317.4067).

Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) Information

If your first language is not English, you will be required to submit Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) scores. Applicants must obtain a minimum score of 580 (paper test) or 237 (computer test) for the Master of Arts degree. Usually, if you submit a TOEFL score, no other standardized test score will be required.

Applicants with completed advanced degrees at the master’s level or higher may request a waiver from the standardized testing requirement.

Waivers are not normally granted from this requirement. However, if a waiver is authorized, applicants then become subject to the same standardized testing requirements as their native English-speaking counterparts, required to submit qualifying scores from either the Graduate Record Exam (GRE) or Miller Analogies Test (MAT). Applicants should weigh this prospect carefully before requesting a waiver and allow sufficient time to take the TOEFL if necessary.

Graduate Test Information

Test scores must be less than five years old (except TOEFL scores, which must be less than two years old) and must be submitted directly to the Admissions Office from the testing service.

Applicants with completed advanced degrees at the master’s level or higher may request a waiver from the standardized testing requirement. Valid MCAT scores may be submitted in lieu of GRE/MAT results.

MAT information:
The Psychological Corporation
555 Academic Court
San Antonio TX 78204
800.622.3231
210.921.8802
210.921.8861 (Fax)

Graduate Record Examination information:
GRE-ETS
PO Box 6000
Princeton NJ  08541-6000
609.771.7670
609.771.7906 (Fax)
Email: gre-info@ets.org
Web: http://www.gre.org/

Our GRE institutional code is R1797.

TOEFL information:
TOEFL Services
Educational Testing Service
Box 6151
Princeton NJ  08541-6151
609.771.7100
609.771.7500 (Fax)
Email: toefl@ets.org
Web: http://www.toefl.org/

Our TOEFL institutional code is 1797.

7. Immunization

The state of Illinois requires incoming students to submit documentation “with exact dates” of the following injections: Measles (two); Mumps (one); Rubella (one); and Tetanus/ Diphtheria (one injection within the last ten years). For students not attending U.S. grades 9-12, three Tetanus/Diphtheria injections are required, the third being within the last ten years. A PPD tuberculosis skin test is also required.

Accepted students will receive further information and a proper form to be completed as part of the admissions process. Do not send immunization documentation before receiving the official form. If written records are not obtainable, all injections must be repeated. No exceptions can be made.

Students who are taking less than 6 hours of credit or were born prior to 1957 are exempt from this law.

8. Tuition Deposits

Domestic Applicants

If you are admitted to Trinity Graduate School, you must submit a tuition deposit of $100.00 payable to “Trinity International University” to the Graduate School Admissions Office as a confirmation of your acceptance of our offer of admission. This deposit is refundable if the Admissions Office receives written notice of cancellation at least thirty days prior to your anticipated date of enrollment.

International Applicants (F-1 Visa)

If you are an international applicant who will be entering the United States on an F-1 visa and plan to attend Trinity’s Deerfield Campus in a full-time residential status, you must submit a tuition deposit of US$2,000 to the Admissions Office as confirmation of your acceptance of our offer of admission before an I-20 can be issued. This deposit is fully refundable.

9. Special Instructions

Nonresidential Bioethics Applicants

Be sure to check the box on the application marked “Nonresidential.” If you do this, we will know to keep your file active until you return the following summer.

If you need further information or have any questions concerning the application process, please call the Admissions Office at 800.533.0975 or 847.317.6900, send an email to tgsadm@tiu.edu, or visit our web site at www.tiu.edu/graduate/admissions/.

We reserve the right to request from any graduate school applicant additional materials or an interview with a representative of the university.

Marital Status

As an educational institution with a broad representation of denominations among our student body, we are aware that marital status, including positions on divorce and remarriage, vary widely among churches and Christian organizations. Applicants are encouraged to dialogue early with their church and spouse relative to these matters, as they may relate to future ministry placement. 

International Applicants

Trinity is authorized under Federal laws to enroll nonimmigrant alien students. In addition to the regular application materials, however, international applicants have some special admission conditions and are required to submit additional information. Please see the general admission section for information pertinent to international applicants. 

Before making application to Trinity, international applicants who will require entry to the United States in an F-1 visa status will be asked to fill out and return a “Pre-application Information for International Applicants” form. The primary purpose of this form is to determine if the potential applicant has realistically identified her or his sources of funding. No application will be acted upon without prior submission and approval of the pre-application form. The pre-application form can be found at www.tiu.edu/forms/graduatepreapp.php, downloaded from Trinity’s web site (www.tiu.edu/divinity/admissions/international), or requested from the Admissions Office.

Applicants with Disabilities

We want to be prepared to meet your needs when you come to Trinity. After you receive your letter of admission, please send us a statement describing your disability and what special attention or arrangements you may need at Trinity. For more information, contact the Associate Dean of Students Office at 847.317.4063.