Biblical/Theological Studies (Master of Arts)

Course and Program Listings

Mission

The mission of the School of Christian Studies is to produce graduates who model academic excellence and professional competence blended with passionate devotion to Christ, to His church and to its global mission.

Objectives

The School of Christian Studies offers the Master of Arts degree in Biblical/Theological Studies. The graduate program is designed to:

Produce graduates trained to analyze, explore, question, reconsider and synthesize both old and new information so as to equip them to communicate the Gospel effectively in a post-Christian culture;
Produce graduates prepared with specialized skills for Christian ministry as local church leaders and teachers; and
Offer students an opportunity to gain expertise in a chosen area (or areas) in biblical/theological studies and/or ministry roles.

Criteria for Admission

Students seeking admission to graduate work in the School of Christian Studies should address all inquiries to the office of graduate programs. The application, the application fee, and all supporting documents should be received at least three weeks prior to the date on which the student wishes to enter.

Appeals of admission decisions should be addressed to the dean of the School of Christian Studies.

Unconditional Admission

To qualify for unconditional admission, the student must meet the following requirements.

Hold a bachelor degree from an accredited institution of higher education.
File the application for admission with the office of graduate programs and furnish the various materials listed in the instructions.
Pay a non-refundable application fee.
Furnish an official transcript from each institution attended, showing all credits previously earned.
Have an overall undergraduate grade point average (GPA) of 2.75 on a 4.00 scale, except for the student who already holds a graduate degree from a regionally accredited college, university or seminary.
Submit an officially reported score of at least 290 obtained on the verbal and quantitative sections and at least 3 on the analytical writing section of the Graduate Record Examination (GRE), except for the student who already holds a graduate degree from a regionally accredited college, university of seminary.
Have a minimum of nine undergraduate hours in Christian Studies, including the six hours of the undergraduate Christian Studies core (CST 110 , and CST 321 or CST 331 ), and two academic periods (semesters) of credit in one foreign language are prerequisites.
Score 94 or better on an examination testing knowledge of Turabian’s style manual prior to enrolling in any graduate classes.

Conditional Admission

Conditional admission may be granted to a student who does not meet all the qualifications for unconditional admission. To qualify for conditional admission, a student must meet conditions 1-4 above and:

Hold an undergraduate GPA not lower than 2.50 on a 4.0 scale.
Submit an officially reported score not less than 280 obtained on the verbal and quantitative sections and not less than 3 on the analytical writing section of the GRE; or acquire a total of at least 1100 on the following formula: (Officially reported GRE scores on the verbal plus quantitative sections) = (overall undergraduate GPA x 100) + (overall graduate GPA x 200) and have a score not less than 3 on the analytical writing section of the GRE; or meet requirements for unconditional admission with the exception of prerequisite undergraduate course work, including foreign language.
Score 94 or better on an examination testing knowledge of Turabian’s style manual prior to enrolling in graduate courses.

A student granted conditional admission due to an unsatisfactory GPA and/or GRE score may be considered for unconditional admission after completion of nine semester hours of approved graduate course work at the University of Mobile with all grades “B” or above and with the recommendation of the dean of the School of Christian Studies.

A student granted conditional admission to graduate studies must complete all prerequisite coursework within the first twelve months following admission. No further graduate level work may be attempted after twelve months has elapsed, until unconditional admission has been granted. A student who lacks undergraduate language prerequisites may opt to take six hours of graduate language coursework to fulfill that requirement (OT 510 Old Testament Exegetical Tools and NT 520 New Testament Exegetical Tools).

Grade Scale

The grade scale for graduate courses in the School of Christian Studies follows: 90-100 A; 80-89 B; 70-79 C; 60-69 D; and below 60 F.

Retention

Graduate students in the School of Christian Studies are expected to progress toward the degree by making grades no lower than “B.”

A student can count only six graduate semester hours of work with grade “C” toward the degree. If the six-hour limit of grades of “C” or below is exceeded, the student will be dismissed automatically from the program.

Graduation Requirements

Complete satisfactorily a program of studies with a minimum of thirty semester hours of graduate credit and a Final Graduate Assessments over the seminar subjects.
A student may not participate in a graduation ceremony until the Final Graduate Assessments are completed successfully.
If a student fails the Final Graduate Assessments, a second attempt may be granted with the approval of the graduate Christian Studies faculty and the office of graduate programs after at least an interval of one regular academic period (semester) or one summer academic period (semester) has elapsed. A second failure will result in dismissal from the graduate program.
Earn a minimum overall GPA of 3.00 on a 4.00 scale on all work attempted in the graduate program.
File an application for a degree, following the time constraints indicated in the official University calendar as published.

Course Offerings

Please see the Course Descriptions sections of this catalog for Graduate level course listings.