Div School - Spending a Semester or Two at another institution?

[Averroes MD]

Let's say you were in a three year M'Div program. That's six semesters. Could you potentially spend the last one or two semesters at another institution? If so, could you still graduate at the same time, etc.? Anyone heard of anyone doing this?

(I'm specifically interested in HDS.)

Edited January 27, 2014 by Averroes MD

[Kleets712]

There are a couple programs to spend some time in DC (a semester or two) studying at a Methodist seminary there and working on public policy. Other than that, I haven't heard anything. 

[Rabbit Run]

The Wesley program the above poster mentioned is a deal. Theres an exchange program with the PC(USA) seminaries that allows you to attend any one for a semester, so you could rock Princeton Seminary or Columbia Seminary etc. I believe its only for people enrolled in PCUSA seminaries however. 

[marXian]

Quite often, seminaries and div schools have agreements with other local universities/seminaries which allow students to take courses at other institutions. For example, schools in the Big Ten and the University of Chicago are part of the CIC (Committee on Institutional Cooperation) which allows students at any of those schools take courses on another campus (e.g. a student at Ohio State could come to Northwestern or UofC for a semester/quarter and take courses.) Under the CIC, if your home institution is giving you a tuition scholarship, the host institution agrees to cover tuition for courses a visiting student takes there. I'm pretty sure Boston-area schools have a similar set up between BU, Harvard, etc. though there may be differences.

[Averroes MD]

Thanks for all the replies.  

 

Quite often, seminaries and div schools have agreements with other local universities/seminaries which allow students to take courses at other institutions. For example, schools in the Big Ten and the University of Chicago are part of the CIC (Committee on Institutional Cooperation) which allows students at any of those schools take courses on another campus (e.g. a student at Ohio State could come to Northwestern or UofC for a semester/quarter and take courses.) Under the CIC, if your home institution is giving you a tuition scholarship, the host institution agrees to cover tuition for courses a visiting student takes there. I'm pretty sure Boston-area schools have a similar set up between BU, Harvard, etc. though there may be differences.

 

So, would this just be for taking 1-2 classes a semester, or doing the whole semester at the other institution?

I wonder, for example, if I did an MDiv at HDS, with my final year spent at GTU.  Would that even conceivably be possible?

[marXian]

These sorts of things vary from program to program, so I can really only speak to the CIC here in the Midwest, but students utilizing the CIC can spend an entire semester/quarter or a whole academic year at cooperating institutions (though housing, etc. would be entirely up to the visiting student.) Spending an entire academic year elsewhere, in my experience, is rare for students in the humanities and more for students in the natural sciences wanting to work in someone else's research lab. Also, that sort of thing is really only something PhD students do. Grad students at CIC schools (both PhD and MA/MS) will sometimes take one course for some term at a nearby participating institution while still taking courses at their home institution. For example, during my first term, I took two courses at Northwestern and one at UChicago.

 

Do you mean the GTU in Berkeley, CA? If so, I would imagine that would be far more difficult. Things like that become easier once you're a PhD student because initiating those sorts of possibilities with faculty in your area at other institutions is relatively normal since those scholars are people with whom you'll (presumably) be engaging throughout your academic career, especially if your field is narrow. At the master's level, it's (I would imagine) far more difficult to work that out without an already established exchange program.

[xypathos]

Yale has agreements with schools in England, Germany, and two in Asia - Hong Kong and somewhere else that I can't recall right now. Semester or a year length.

 

I imagine it'd be next to impossible to spend your last year abroad due to graduation requirements. Really, I'd think it'd have to be your middler year.

Edited January 28, 2014 by xypathos

[theorykween]

I recently graduated from HDS with my MDiv, and I'm pretty sure that you're required to be enrolled for 6 semesters as part of the graduation requirement. Meaning that you'd need to do 3 full years of study at HDS to get the degree (no study abroad, and no graduating early). However, you could take a year or semester off in the middle of your degree (which is pretty common) and do whatever you want with that time.

[Averroes MD]

Thank you again everyone for the responses.

 

 

I recently graduated from HDS with my MDiv, and I'm pretty sure that you're required to be enrolled for 6 semesters as part of the graduation requirement. Meaning that you'd need to do 3 full years of study at HDS to get the degree (no study abroad, and no graduating early). However, you could take a year or semester off in the middle of your degree (which is pretty common) and do whatever you want with that time.

 

Thanks for your reply.  The HDS website says for the M'Div degree the following:

 

"Residency requirement: students must complete four courses each in two of their first three consecutive terms"

That's why I thought there might be some flexibility in this regard, but I guess not.  Thanks!

Edited January 28, 2014 by Averroes MD

[diazalon]

YDS routinely hosts exchange students from other seminaries and divinity schools in the US - its definitely an option there.

 

Yale has agreements with schools in England, Germany, and two in Asia - Hong Kong and somewhere else that I can't recall right now. Semester or a year length.

 

I imagine it'd be next to impossible to spend your last year abroad due to graduation requirements. Really, I'd think it'd have to be your middler year.

 

This happens all the time. You miss your graduation usually because of differences in academic schedule, but students quite routinely spend their final year as a YDS student abroad.

Edited January 29, 2014 by diazalon

[Averroes MD]

 

YDS routinely hosts exchange students from other seminaries and divinity schools in the US - its definitely an option there.

 

 

This happens all the time. You miss your graduation usually because of differences in academic schedule, but students quite routinely spend their final year as a YDS student abroad.

 

 

Thanks for your reply, Diazalon.

Does this final year mean one more year of schooling on top or is it included in the 3-year MDiv program?

Also, do the exchange students need to pay extra tuition, i.e. for the host institution?

[diazalon]

Thanks for your reply, Diazalon.

Does this final year mean one more year of schooling on top or is it included in the 3-year MDiv program?

Also, do the exchange students need to pay extra tuition, i.e. for the host institution?

The way it works at Yale is classes taken abroad are counted as credit only - they do not affect your GPA or requirements. So basically you have to spend your first two years doing all your requirements, and then take your credits from abroad as electives. It's easier for an MAR, but MDivs do it regularly. And nope - you pay your YDS tuition and that covers it. Some exchange programs offer generous stipends, on top of it all.