Dual Degree:
M.Div. and M.A. in Counseling
A Dual Degree will enable a student to earn both an M.Div. and a Master of Arts in Counseling in approximately one year less and at less cost than if the degrees were pursued separately.
Purpose/Rationale
Seminary students who elect to pursue a Dual Degree would potentially benefit in multiple ways. The combined degrees could enhance the following opportunities:
- Graduates would be enriched by the interdisciplinary character of theological/pastoral preparation in conversation with another professional discipline;
- Graduates would be equipped with multiple professional skills to better minister within the marketplace of ideas and work;
- Graduates would be prepared to work part-time as pastor and within another professional field in ways that enhance their economic stability and potential service to the church;
- Graduates would be more thoroughly prepared for leadership in Christian institutions and organizations, with expanded management skills and professional breadth.
Academic and Administrative Matters
- To participate in the Dual Degree Program, a student would be admitted to both the Seminary’s M.Div. program and to Master of Arts in Counseling program. Admission to one program does not in any way assure admission to the other program.
- Students deal with the two programs separately for purposes of admission, tuition payment, financial aid and the like.
- Academic standing in the respective programs is determined solely on the basis of work done in each program.
- Each program is responsible for the integrity of its degree in terms of course requirements.
- Students complete the requirements for both degrees, as specified below, in order to receive either degree in the program. If the requirements for the dual degree are not met, the requirements of each program taken separately apply.
The Seminary Associate Dean and the Master of Arts in Counseling program director would serve as contact persons and as advisors for students pursuing a dual degree. Eastern Mennonite Seminary would recommend that a year of seminary study come first in the sequence. The recommended design would be to take the first and final years at the seminary.
Present Academic Requirements
For a Dual Degree M.Div./Master of Arts in Counseling (total of 123 SH):
- Seminary M.Div. degree requires 93 SH, 75 SH core requirements and 18 SH electives.
- The Master of Arts in Counseling degree requires 57 SH which are non-negotiable and one elective for 3 SH which must be a counseling elective for its Community Counseling track for a total of 60 SH.
In light of the Association of Theological Studies policy on “shared credit in degree programs,” we will allow up to 30 hours to be reduced from the current M.Div. requirements for a dual M.Div./Master of Arts in Counseling degree. A student would be free to take additional electives in either program. Each program currently specifies the core required courses for their respective degree programs (noted in current catalogs).
M.Div: a total of 63 hours required (93 SH minus the 18 open electives and up to 12 SH from the M.Div. core). This should be doable in 2 years, including May and summers.
Master of Arts in Counseling: a total of 60 SH required (with 3 of those hours designated as a counseling elective, which could occur within the seminary context).
The Master of Arts in Counseling courses listed below would be seen as available for substitution for the 12 SH of seminary core courses (in italics) but some flexibility would be allowed for negotiating substitution of another comparable course or two instead of those mentioned below in light of schedule constraints and/or individual needs.
- Counselor Formation I, II & III (8 SH) could possibly replace Formation in Personhood I & II (2 SH) and Pastoral Care (3 SH)
- Ethics in multiple classes could possibly replace Christian Ethics (3 SH)
- Multicultural Counseling (3 SH) could possibly replace Cross-Cultural Experience (3 SH)
