Graduate Theological Union

“An ecumenical and interreligious crossroads, building bridges among Christian denominations and other faith traditions, and dedicated to educating students for teaching, research, ministry, and service.”

Description of PhD Program

The GTU is a unique institution. It offers the PhD degree, an advanced academic degree intended to prepare students for professional careers in teaching, writing, and scholarship, as well as for leadership opportunities with religious organizations, social service agencies, foundations, museums, libraries, publishing, and in educational institutions.

Students entering the PhD program at the GTU can choose their fields of study from among more than thirty concentrations grouped into four interdisciplinary departments: Sacred Texts & Their Interpretation, Historical & Cultural Studies of Religion, Theology & Ethics, and Religion & Practice.

The doctoral curriculum builds on the ecumenical, interreligious, and interdisciplinary strengths of the GTU, and offers enhanced opportunities for both specialization and cross-disciplinary study. The GTU’s doctoral program utilizes the depth of faculty expertise made possible by its eight member schools and more than a dozen academic centers and affiliates.

The academic disciplines represented by a diverse range of faculty, combined with multidenominational and interfaith cooperation, provide a rich environment for developing one’s academic voice. The GTU has the faculty and research resources to offer a distinctively interdisciplinary approach to scholarship within one’s specialized concentration.

Tuition & Housing Costs

Tuition $35,400 for first two years

Continuing fee $9,550/year

Housing Information: https://www.gtu.edu/admissions/life-at-gtu/housing

Tuition Assistance

All students are eligible for Presidential Scholarships, which are merit-based and cover full tuition for two years. Others receive grant-in-aid awards based on demonstrated need.

Financial Aid-Fellowships

At least one Presidential Scholarship each year goes to a person of an underrepresented minority, and the Hearst Scholarship is also designated for enhancing the diversity of the GTU student body. All students are eligible for Merit and Need-Based Aid, including several Endowed Scholarships, all of which are applied to tuition costs.

https://www.gtu.edu/admissions/financial-aid/financial-aid-programs-and-eligibility

Hispanic/Latine Faculty

Wendy Arce
Assistant Dean

Eduardo Fernández
Professor of Pastoral Theology and Ministry

Julián Andrés González
Assistant Professor of Old Testament

Alicia Vargas
Associate Professor of Multicultural and Contextual Studies

Marga Vega
Assistant Professor of Philosophy

Hispanic Centers and Programs

Women’s Studies in Religion Program (WSR) sustains, promotes, and advances the study of women in theology and religion in full recognition of race, sexual and gender orientation, ethnicity, class, culture, nationality and religious orientation. WSR offers a Women’s Studies in Religion Certificate for graduate students at GTU and its member schools.