Statement of Educational Effectiveness

Concordia Theological Seminary assesses its various academic programs to ensure that students are accomplishing the learning outcomes established for these programs. Additionally, CTSFW reports to the Association of Theological Schools (ATS) and monitors the student success measures of time to completion, graduation rate, and vocational placements.

Master of Divinity

The Master of Divinity program is our largest academic program. For the most recent ten years, 83.7% of students successfully complete the program in 4 to less than 5 years. Of the 2020/2021 graduates, 87.9% completed the program in this time frame.

ATS uses 6 years as the time in program for the Master of Divinity graduation rate success measure. For the seven years that CTSFW has reported this success measure, the graduation rate is 86.1%. Of the students who began fall 2015, 90.5% graduated by fall 2021.

Reports to ATS show that 100% of all pastoral candidates certified by the faculty and seeking a call to serve as a pastor are placed in a pastoral position. The graduates for the 2020/2021 academic year continue this trend where 100% of those seeking a call were placed. Of these graduates, 12.1% deferred placement for further graduate study.

Vicarage supervisors and members of the faculty directly assess nine student learning outcomes for the Master of Divinity program. The 2020/2021 graduates had a 4.56 average competency on a scale of 5.00, where 5.00 is exceptional. This is slightly above the historical average competency of 4.47 for graduates from 2011/2012 – 2019/2020.

Master of Arts in Deaconess Studies

Six to seven women on average graduate with the Master of Arts in Deaconess Studies each year.

For the most recent ten years, 83.6% of students successfully complete the program in 4 years or less. Of the 2020/2021 graduates, 72.7% completed the program in this time frame.

ATS uses 4 years as the time in program for the Master of Arts in Deaconess Studies graduation rate success measure. For the seven years that CTSFW has reported this success measure, the graduation rate is 76.1%. Of the students who began fall 2017, 60.0% graduated by fall 2021.

Reports to ATS for the most recent ten years, show that 64.1% of all Master of Arts in Deaconess Studies candidates certified by the faculty and seeking a call to serve as a deaconess are placed in a vocational position. The graduates for the 2020/2021 academic year were nearly at this rate at 63.6%.

Members of the faculty directly assess eight student learning outcomes for the Master of Arts in Deaconess Studies program. The 2018/2019 graduates had a 4.68 average competency on a scale of 5.00, where 5.00 is exceptional. This is comparable to the historical average competency of 4.73 for graduates from 2012/2013 – 2017/2018.

Master of Arts in Pastoral Studies

This recent program began graduating students during the 2018/2029 academic year. This program is very small with about 2 graduates on average each year. This program is designed either for 1) students from foreign contexts who are seeking the essential curriculum in Lutheran pastoral formation within two academic years without vicarage or certification for placement in the LCMS or 2) LCMS students who are admitted to and simultaneously enrolled in the Alternate Route (A.R.) program.

100% of the 2020/2021 Master of Art in Pastoral Studies graduates completed the program in less than 3 years. This exceeds the historical rolling average for three years of 85.7%.

ATS uses 4 years as the time in program for the Master of Arts in Pastoral Studies graduation rate success measure. The design of this program has students graduate either in two years or less or in three years or less. 100% of the students graduating from this program have completed the program in 4 years or less.

Reports to ATS show that 71.4% of all pastoral candidates certified by the faculty and seeking a call to serve as a pastor are placed in a pastoral position. At the time the report was made to ATS, the one 2020/2021 academic year candidate was seeking a call.

Vicarage supervisors and members of the faculty directly assess nine student learning outcomes for option 2) of the Master of Arts in Pastoral Studies program. The 2020/2021 graduates had a 4.85 average competency on a scale of 5.00, where 5.00 is exceptional. This exceeds the 3-year average competency of 4.08 for graduates from 2017/2018 – 2019/2020.

Master of Arts

Three to four students on average graduate with the Master of Arts degrees each year.

For the most recent ten years, 39.7% of students successfully complete the program in 3 years or less. Of the 2020/2021 graduates, 66.7% completed the program in this time frame.

ATS uses 4 years as the time in program for the Master of Arts graduation rate success measure. For the seven years that CTSFW has reported this success measure, the graduation rate is 69.0%. Of the students who began fall 2017, 50.0% graduated by fall 2021.

Reports to ATS for the most recent ten years, show that 50.9% of the program’s graduates are placed in a vocational setting. Of the remaining graduates, 14.5% receive a non-vocational placement, 7.3% seek further study, 9.1% are seeking placement, and the remaining 18.2% are unknown or other. The 2020/2021 graduates were split into thirds between vocational placement, non-vocational placement, and seeking placement.

Members of the faculty directly assess seven student learning outcomes for the Master of Arts program. The 2020/2021 graduates had a 3.89 average competency on a scale of 5.00, where 5.00 is exceptional. This is below the 3-year average competency of 4.11 for graduates from 2017/2018 – 2019/2020.

Master of Sacred Theology

The program operates two programs, one on the CTSFW campus and the other at the international extension site at the Lutheran School of Theology in Gothenburg, Sweden. Between the two sites, there are typically eighteen students actively taking classes and exams in the Master of Sacred Theology program each year.

Note: The students in the Gothenburg program complete their course work intensively over three years with the fourth year devoted to researching and writing their thesis. We will see this difference most noticeably in the Time to Completion and Graduation Rate success measures.

For the most recent ten years, 21.5% of students successfully complete the program in 2 years or less. Of the 2020/2021 graduates, 60.0% completed the program in this time frame.

ATS uses 2 years as the time in program for the Master of Sacred Theology graduation rate success measure. For the seven years that CTSFW has reported this success measure, the graduation rate is 34.4%. Of the students who began fall 2019, 20.0% graduated by fall 2021.

Reports to ATS for the most recent ten years, show that 92.2% of the program’s graduates are placed in a vocational setting. Of the remaining graduates, 7.1% continue with further study. The 2020/2021 graduates approximated this trend with 90% being placed in a vocational setting and 10% continuing further study.

Members of the faculty directly assess seven student learning outcomes for the Master of Sacred Theology program. The 2020/2021 graduates had a 4.69 average competency on a scale of 5.00, where 5.00 is exceptional. This is slightly below the 3-year average competency of 4.82 for graduates from 2017/2018 – 2019/2020. There were no graduates for the 2020/2021 academic year.

Doctor of Ministry

The current Doctor of Ministry program was re-envisioned for the 2013/2014 academic year. The new program is structured so that a pastor can complete the coursework and project in 3-4 years.

For the most recent five years, 29.0% of students successfully completed the program in 4 years or less. Of the 2020/2021 graduates, 0.0% completed the program in this time frame while the remaining graduates completed in the program in more than 4 years (20.0% in 4 to less than 6 years and 80% in 6+ years).

ATS uses 6 years as the time in program for the Doctor of Ministry graduation rate success measure. For the seven years that CTSFW has reported this success measure, the graduation rate is 49.1%. Of the students who began fall 2015, 61.5% graduated by fall 2021.

Reports to ATS for the most recent ten years, show that 100% of the program’s graduates continue in a vocational setting. The 2020/2021 graduates continued this trend.

Members of the faculty directly assess six student learning outcomes for the Doctor of Ministry program. The 2020/2021 graduates had a 4.81 average competency on a scale of 5.00, where 5.00 is exceptional. This slightly exceeds the 3-year average competency of 4.78 for graduates from 2017/2018 – 2019/2020.

Doctor of Philosophy in Missiology and Doctor of Philosophy in Theological Studies

The PhD Missiology program averages five to six graduates each year. The PhD in Theological Studies program launched fall 2018 with four students and has not had any graduates.

For the most recent ten years, 56.8% of students successfully complete the program in 6 years or less. Of the 2020/2021 graduates, 50.0% completed the program in this time frame.

ATS uses 8 years as the time in program for the Doctor of Philosophy graduation rate success measure. For the seven years that CTSFW has reported this success measure, the graduation rate is 54.5%. Of the students who began fall 2013, 45.5% graduated by fall 2021.

Reports to ATS for the most recent ten years, show that 70% of all PhD graduates continue in a vocational position. Of the 2020/2021 graduates, 50% continued in a vocational position with the remaining 50% reporting a non-vocational placement.

Members of the faculty directly assess seven student learning outcomes for the PhD Missiology program. The 2020/2021 graduates had a 4.77 average competency on a scale of 5.00, where 5.00 is exceptional. This is slightly below the 3-year average competency of 4.82 for graduates from 2017/2018 – 2019/2020.