Overall, the Christ School of Theology shows success with its students. There is both a high retention rate as well as a high employment rate. The graduation rate is lower primarily because many students are part-time and take longer than a typical full-time student would take to complete their degree programs. This can be seen by the average number of years it takes CST students to complete their degree programs. CST remains committed to student success and we work with students individually to ensure that they can achieve their academic goals.
STUDENT RETENTION RATE (2022-2023)
Christ School of Theology (ILT’s graduate school) has a retention rate of 96.74%. The Master of Divinity, Master of Arts, and Master of Sacred Theology degree programs each have a 100% retention rate in 2022. Students in these programs are generally committed to their studies and show high levels of persistence. Regardless of their program, Christ School of Theology students show high retention rates each year.
STUDENT EMPLOYMENT RATE
Christ School of Theology has a 100% employment rate in 2022-2023 and a 96.08% employment rate over the last ten years. Most of the Christ School students have employment before they begin or before they complete their studies. Many of these are pastors serving in congregations and are seeking continuing education or a specific credential.
DISCOUNT RATE (2022-2023)
The Institute of Lutheran Theology’s board and administration are committed to helping students graduate debt-free. There are many scholarships, financial aid, and payment opportunities for students so that they do not need to take out student loans. Because of this, the discount rate (the amount of total tuition and fees which was covered by scholarships and financial aid) was 64% at the Christ School of Theology.
The discount rate is calculated by adding all the various discounts, scholarships, and financial aid students receive and dividing that by the total tuition and fees. What this tells us is the percentage of the total tuition and fees, which were paid by other sources and not the students. The larger the discount rate, the less tuition that students were required to pay.
The Christ School of Theology discount rate is 64%. There are many sources of scholarships and financial aid for students in the graduate school. Many students receive scholarships or grants from their congregations or foundations. These students also receive assistance from the ILT financial aid fund.
It is important to all of us that money is never the only reason why people do not study at ILT. We are committed to helping students financially because we believe the education they receive is important for the various callings that God calls them into. To this end, the discount rate has been increasing every year for the last few years. This is only possible because of the generosity of donors who contribute through scholarships, grants, and financial aid.
GRADUATION RATE
Christ School of Theology has a graduation rate of 50%. While many students in Christ School of Theology programs are part-time, there are a larger number of students who can take courses full-time and complete their studies in a normal length of time. You can see by our high retention rate that students do persist in their studies, however, many of them are required to take part-time courses and to complete their studies in a longer than normal period of time.
Note: The graduation rate is a calculation that identifies the percentage of students from a cohort who are completing the program on time. This rate gives the percentage of students who graduate in 1.5 times the stated length for a full-time student to complete the program.
PROGRAM COMPLETION
The average number of years for completion shows how long it takes students to complete the program over the last ten years. As you can see from these numbers, the majority of Christ School of Theology students are part-time and take longer than usual to complete their degree or certificate programs. Many CST students are non-traditional, meaning that they are coming back to school after taking time to start a previous career and have a family. Because of this, many CST students continue to work full-time, have family commitments, and take courses at a slower-than-normal rate.
The Christ School of Theology, being an online school, gives many the opportunity to study who otherwise would not be able to because they cannot move to a traditional campus. CST’s online model makes it possible for people to study who otherwise would have no options. This does mean, however, that students take longer to complete their programs than is normal.
Consumer Reports
Campus Safety Report
Because the Institute of Lutheran Theology, and its underlying academic institutions like the Christ School of Theology, use an online campus almost exclusively, very few if any students come to classes and live on the physical campus. Occasionally, there have been students who stay for a time in Brookings to come to events. There have been no reported incidents of crime on campus. Online students have reported no crime related to the classes or communication with the students at ILT.
Financial Reports
Financials for the Christ School of Theology are kept by the Institute of Lutheran Theology. The financial reports for ILT can be found here on ILT.edu
Student Debt
Because ILT institutions, including the Christ School of Theology, do not participate in Title IV programs, ILT students cannot apply for student loans or federal assistance. ILT, through the generosity of donors, supplies financial aid and tuition payment programs to assist students in the payment of tuition. The Christ School of Theology is committed to making an affordable education available to all who are accepted to any educational program. Money should never be the only reason a person does not become a student at the Christ School of Theology. Because of this commitment, CST students graduate with no debt.
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