wfn.org | Enrollment at ELCA Seminaries Levels Off

[News News <NEWS@ELCA.ORG>]

ELCA NEWS SERVICE

April 30, 2002

ENROLLMENT AT ELCA SEMINARIES LEVELS OFF
02-104-FI

     CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The eight seminaries of the Evangelical
Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) report 1,211 students seeking a
master of divinity (M.Div.) degree during the 2001-2002 academic
year.  After several years of declining enrollment, the number of
students preparing to become ELCA pastors has leveled off in the past
three years, according to a report to the ELCA Division for Ministry
board.
     The M.Div. is the minimum degree normally required of ELCA
clergy.  The M.Div. program usually requires a bachelor's degree and
four years of seminary education, with a parish internship typically
during the third year.
     In 1994-1995, ELCA seminaries reported 1,465 students in their
M.Div. programs.  That number declined through the remainder of the
decade -- 1,405 in 1995-1996, 1,357 in 1996-1997, 1,323 in 1997-1998,
and 1,284 in 1998-1999, said the report.  Enrollment began leveling
off at 1,209 in 1999-2000 and 1,214 in 2000-2001.
     "This leveling-off is similar to the experience of most
theological schools in North America in the 1990s," according to the
report.
     ELCA seminaries plan to give 266 M.Div. degrees to this year's
graduating class.  Another 361 students are in their first year of
study to receive M.Div. degrees, 305 are in their second year of
study, and 279 are on internship.
     Those "class" numbers don't tell as much as they once did, said
the Rev. Mark N. Wilhelm, associate director for theological
education, ELCA Division for Ministry.  "We now have so many students
who do not go through seminary as a class," he said.
     While 1,211 students are enrolled in M.Div. programs of ELCA
seminaries, they account for 1,031 full-time equivalent students.
"Part-time students now make up a significant minority of our M.Div.
population," said Wilhelm.
     Women account for 615 -- more than half -- of the 1,211
students in M.Div. programs at ELCA seminaries.  Last year, there
were 608 women among the 1,214 seminarians.
     Churches that merged to form the ELCA in 1988 began ordaining
women in 1970.  At the end of 2001, the church's 17,686 pastors
included 2,631 women.
     The current 1,211 students in M.Div. programs at ELCA
seminaries include 26 African-Americans, 14 Latinos, 13 Asian/Pacific
Islanders and one American Indian.  Those numbers are similar to the
previous year, except that only two Asian/Pacific Islanders were
enrolled last year.
     About 2.5 percent of the ELCA's 5.13 million members are people
of color or whose primary language is not English.  At the end of
2001, about 2.7 percent of the church's pastors were people of color.
     Those seeking M.Div. degrees account for about 58 percent of
all those attending ELCA seminaries, said Wilhelm.  ELCA seminaries
offer various other graduate degrees, such as the master of arts,
master of sacred theology, doctor of ministry and doctor of
philosophy degrees.
     In the total enrollment at ELCA seminaries, there has been a
"sharp" increase in the number of students under the age of 35, said
Wilhelm.  There was about a 30 percent increase -- from 504 in
2000-2001 to 655 in 2001-2002.  Specific numbers for those seeking
M.Div. degrees were not available this year, he said.
     ELCA seminaries enroll about 89 percent of the M.Div. students
who are in candidacy programs, which prepare seminarians for
leadership positions in ELCA ministries, said Wilhelm.  Between 100
and 130 M.Div. students at non-ELCA seminaries are participating in
ELCA candidacy programs.  There are 158 M.Div. students at ELCA
seminaries who are not members of the ELCA.

ELCA seminaries are:
 + Luther Seminary, St. Paul, Minn.
 + Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago
 + Lutheran Theological Seminary at Gettysburg, Pa.
 + Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia
 + Lutheran Theological Southern Seminary, Columbia, S.C.
 + Pacific Lutheran Theological Seminary, Berkeley, Calif.
 + Trinity Lutheran Seminary, Columbus, Ohio
 + Wartburg Theological Seminary, Dubuque, Iowa
-- -- --
     Links to and other information about ELCA seminaries and
related institutions are available at
http://www.elca.org/dm/seminary.html on the ELCA Web site.

For information contact:
John Brooks, Director (773) 380-2958 or NEWS@ELCA.ORG
http://listserv.elca.org/archives/elcanews.html