Applicants who are not citizens of the United States must meet the following additional requirements for admission to the Seminary:

Immigration Laws

This school is authorized under federal law to enroll nonimmigrant students. All requirements of the Immigration and Naturalization Service of the United States must be satisfied before the applicant will be admitted. The International Student Affairs office will provide international applicants information about the Certificate of Eligibility for Nonimmigrant (F-1) Student (Form I 20A-B). Applications from international students are considered by the designated committee of the various programs on the same basis as all other students.

Financial Responsibility

International applicants must submit documents demonstrating funds available or guaranteed support adequate for international travel, educational expenses, and living expenses in the United States. The Seminary will provide a Financial Statement for International Applicants form that must be used for this purpose. This statement also requires certain designated affidavits that must be provided. The Seminary, at its discretion, may require the applicant to submit an Affidavit of Support (Form I-134), which is issued by the Immigration and Naturalization Service of the United States Department of Justice.

The Seminary will not accept financial responsibility for any part of an international student’s support in connection with its academic programs. Beyond the low cost of tuition, the Seminary is not in a position to provide financial support. Students must not depart from their home nation before receiving confirmation of admission approval and the Immigration I-20 form from the International Student Affairs office. International students are required to meet the financial deposit required by the Seminary. The deposit is refundable to the student upon graduation or withdrawal from the Seminary.

Transcript Requirements

International applicants must meet the same academic prerequisites as United States citizens for the program for which they are applying. Official transcripts (translated into English) of all institutions of higher education that the applicant has attended must be submitted. If the applicant has received postsecondary degrees from an institution outside the United States, these degrees may be reviewed by the chief academic officer and/or an independent credentials evaluation agency. The applicant must pay for all expenses involved in this process. The Seminary will provide international applicants with information about independent credentials evaluation upon request. Applicants who received postsecondary degrees from a United States institution of higher education must submit official transcripts.

English Language Requirement

All instruction at the Seminary is in English. Applicants whose indigenous language is not English must score at least 550 on the paper-based Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) or 79 to 80 on the Internet-based TOEFL for master level work and 600 on the paper-based TOEFL or 100 on the Internet-based TOEFL for doctoral work. This examination must be completed no more than two years before admission to the Seminary.

In the United States, information concerning the TOEFL examination may be received from the

Educational Testing Service
P.O. Box 899
Princeton, NJ  08549

Outside the United States, information concerning the TOEFL is available from United States embassies, consulates, or information centers. The MABTS code number, 1712, must be used to report TOEFL scores.

Exceptions to this requirement are presented to the designated program committee, which must then be approved by the faculty. Students who have received a postsecondary degree from an English-speaking institution of higher learning, particularly from the United States, Canada, or Great Britain, sometimes are not required to take the TOEFL exam. This is not an automatic exception and is determined on an individual basis.

Provisional Admission

Because of the cultural, language, and educational diversity associated with living in a complex world, international students face a special challenge in succeeding at Seminary studies. The Seminary makes every effort to admit as students only those who are well-suited to its programs. However, the Seminary always reserves the right to evaluate the progress of all students.

International applicants are admitted with the provision that their status and academic progress are reviewed at the end of the first semester of study and thereafter at the end of each year of study. The Seminary may require remedial studies or restrict the academic course load of any student, including internationals if these actions appear to be in the best interest of the student.