2023: 50 Top Recommendations for the Best Online and Campus-Based Master of Divinity Programs (MDiv) in the United States

For anyone with serious plans to become an ordained Christian pastor in almost any denomination, the Master of Divinity is very often a key educational goal.

Hitting every aspect of both scriptural and pastoral education – from New Testament exegesis to the basics of congregational budgeting – the MDiv is the professional degree that turns inspired, dedicated lay ministers into senior pastors.

It goes without saying that if you are among those called to the ministry, the last thing you want to do is make any compromises when it comes to the MDiv program you choose. You will be resting your entire career on the enormous range of knowledge and skills that you bring home from this master’s program. You owe it to yourself and to your congregation to get the best education available.

Explore a Christian Ministry Degree – Request More Info Today!

Featured Programs:

Sponsored School(s)

Liberty University

Featured Program: Choose from various concentrations in MA: Pastoral Counseling; MA: Worship Studies; MDV: Biblical Studies; MAR: Theology

Request Info

Grand Canyon University

Featured Program: Master of Divinity; M.S. in Mental Health and Wellness with an Emphasis in Christian Ministry; M.S. in Clinical Mental Health Counseling with an Emphasis in Christian Counseling

Request Info

With nearly 250 Christian universities offering MDiv programs, it’s no easy task to compare all the options available to you, let alone identify the one that’s best aligned with your own spiritual aspirations and career goals.

But the editorial staff here at ChristianMinistryEDU.org is up to the task, and we consider it an honor to be of service to aspiring Christian leaders just like you. So we laid out the spreadsheets, rolled up our sleeves, and put in the hours to do those side-by-side comparisons so that you don’t have to.

What you’ll find here is a review that is qualitative in nature, but even so, our research produced lots of useful data. We’re confident that’s exactly what today’s Christian leaders are looking for – a resource that will help them make thoughtful decisions informed by the wisdom of both the head and the heart.

While there are many differences even among top-flight MDiv programs, you can count on any one of these degrees to give you the extensive scriptural knowledge and pastoral skills you need to be an effective Christian leader in today’s ministries.

The Criteria We Looked At when Selecting the MDiv Programs We Consider to Be the Best

MDivs are offered at Bible colleges and seminaries. We started with only those schools that hold accreditation in good standing from an agency sanctioned by the Council for Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA) and the U.S. Department of Education. This baseline for quality ensured we only considered schools that meet the rigorous standards expected of American higher education institutions eligible for Title IV federal grants and loans.

With the baseline for basic quality established, we began the work of reviewing the nearly 250 institutions offering MDiv programs that meet this important benchmark.

The professors and resources available at the universities offering advanced degrees in divinity are all part of the package. So we didn’t stop with a deep dive into only the curriculum and features of each MDiv degree, but went further to look at the foundation on which they rest – the schools themselves.

MDiv programs can be surprisingly varied from school to school, and that’s a good thing—you deserve to find a program that supports your denomination and your specific calling.

But great MDiv programs do all have some things in common. So, when adding programs to the list, we took into account the common factors that we know create an amazing student experience and unparalleled outcomes after graduation…

The Best Christian Universities Always Have the Best Faculty

It could be argued that with a Christ-centered education, who you are learning from is extremely important given the gravity of what you are learning. Even the best curriculum in the world could be poorly represented if the teacher isn’t engaged, capable, and knowledgeable. So, we looked for schools with a deep bench of instructors with meaningful experiences behind them in ministry and missions.

It makes all the difference to have professors with advanced degrees in Christian ministry and scriptural study, together with long track records for publishing and presenting research and making other meaningful contributions to both ministry and academia. You want to learn from thought-leaders in theology and ministry, and that’s exactly what you’ll get from the MDiv programs on this list.

The most thoughtful and effective professors have at least as much real-world experience in ministry as they do in the classroom. The MDiv programs we selected are often taught by ordained ministers who have mentored and shepherded their own congregations, and who are now capable of bringing you their insights after decades of service.

MDiv Programs Themselves Help Build a Reputation for the Top Christian Universities that Offer Them

Word gets around quickly when a school delivers a solid education in divinity. Church organizations actively look for graduates from those programs. People with those degrees ascend quickly to leadership positions in the church hierarchy. Other pastors and ministers look to them for support and help with interpretation in thorny matters of morality or doctrine.

So we picked schools that have earned recognition not just from their own graduates, but that have also been recognized through accreditation from specialized Christian college accreditation agencies that include the Association of Theological Schools, as well as national university appraisal organizations like the Princeton Review. These schools are likely to have plenty of partnerships with major churches and denominations and are proud to talk about them.

Deep and Diverse Concentration Options Can Make an MDiv Program a Good Fit for Many Paths in Ministry

The best Master of Divinity program in the world is no good to you if it doesn’t offer the kind of curriculum that supports your ministry calling. So we looked for schools that have quality specialization options, and plenty of them, delivering concentrations in areas of the ministry that are most crucial in today’s world.

Of course, not every school can specialize in every area—that’s why they call it specialization. But when these schools do offer concentrations, they are more than just a couple of elective classes thrown in as a token. They deliver real expertise and a dedicated education in the area of ministry you are most interested in.

The Best MDiv Programs are Offered Through Institutions Active in Research and Other Contributions to Religious Academia

Good divinity schools have strong support for students and adequate resources to teach their curriculum. This shows up in dedicated advising and mentoring services to help you get your studies off the ground from day one. It also appears in organized assistance in finding internship opportunities, or study abroad programs that develop perspectives from other cultures and traditions.

A good MDiv program also happens in the middle of other great scholarship. Schools that are renowned for research and have centers and institutes that develop special expertise in certain areas of study, like Biblical languages, or interfaith cooperation, are also schools that can support your thesis or capstone project investigations better than anywhere else.

Sometimes It’s the Little Things That Make an MDiv Program Special

Ultimately, there’s no single criterion that can tell you that any given MDiv program qualifies to be called the best… but you might find a certain feature that makes one particular program the best fit for you. That’s why we also included information about crucial program elements such as: