Jesuit School of Theology at Berkeley: Licentiate in Sacred Theology

The Licentiate in Sacred Theology is a two-year Roman Catholic ecclesiastical degree in advanced theological study granted in the name of the Pope by the Jesuit School of Theology by virtue of its status as an Ecclesiastical Faculty. The S.T.L. prepares students to serve in official capacities in religious communities and dioceses and to teach in higher education, diocesan schools and seminaries. The licentiate may be completed in as little as two years, including completion of the thesis and its defense.

Admission Requirements
The Jesuit School welcomes applications from qualified applicants to the program. In addition to regular admission requirements, applicants must:

hold the Master of Divinity or Baccalaureate in Sacred Theology (S.T.B.) degree or its equivalent, completed within the past five years with at least a 3.0 (B) average at the Jesuit School or a comparable theological center;
have a "suitable knowledge of the Latin language." This is understood to be a working reading knowledge sufficient to use ecclesiastical documents in Latin. This requirement can be met either by coursework, generally two semesters, or by an examination; and
have completed 24 semester hours of philosophy coursework.

Applicants with Advanced Standing
Any student who has taken graduate courses in theology less than six years prior to registration at the Jesuit School may apply for advanced standing in the program. Up to nine units of advanced standing can be applied to the Licentiate degree from courses that cohere with courses taken at the Jesuit School as a specialization.

To be eligible, you may request a petition form from the Assistant Academic Dean or the Office of Admissions and return it to the Academic Dean for consideration.

Master of Divinity Students at the Jesuit School
Master of Divinity students at the Jesuit School may begin work toward the Licentiate of Sacred Theology when all of the coursework for the Master of Divinity has been completed, even though they have not yet passed the comprehensive examination.

Jesuit School students may apply up to six units of work done as a Master of Divinity student to the Licentiate in Sacred Theology, provided that these six units are taken within the final two semesters of Master of Divinity studies and are not required for the completion of that degree. A letter from the academic advisor is required in order to grant credit.

Degree Requirements
Two years' residence is required for the Licentiate in Sacred Theology, though degree requirements may be completed in less time. All work for the S.T.L. must be completed within four years of the date of initial registration in the program.

At the time of admission to the program, the student must choose an area of specialization. The specialization may be in any area of concentration available at the Jesuit School. Of the 24 hours of coursework required to complete the degree, one of the courses must be in the methodology appropriate to the area of specialization.

Students must demonstrate skill in one modern language other than the native tongue, in addition to a working reading knowledge of the Latin language. Students who specialize in biblical studies must also demonstrate a suitable knowledge of one of the biblical languages. The Latin language requirements may be fulfilled during S.T.L. studies at the Jesuit School.

The student is responsible for registering for nine units of research work that will culminate in a thesis of at least 75 pages, directed by a full-time member of the Jesuit School faculty. The thesis will be read by an appointed thesis committee, and an oral examination on the thesis will be administered. A final average of 3.0 or better in course work and on the thesis is required for conferral of the S.T.L. degree.

Thesis
The student is responsible for registering for nine units of semester units of research work which culminate in a thesis (of at least 75 pages) directed by a full-time permanent member of the JSTB faculty. The thesis director should also serve as the student's academic advisor for the most of the degree program, including course work.

With the advice of the director, the student chooses one other competent reader for the thesis, and submits his or her name to the Academic Dean for approval. The grade for the thesis units will be the average of the evaluations given by the director and the other reader. In particular cases, a third member may be appointment to the thesis committee.

A one-hour oral examination on the S.T.L. thesis will be administered by the thesis committee.

GTU Doctoral Students
For those students who are concomitantly enrolled in the doctoral program at the Graduate Theological Union, no separate thesis is required and the licentiate may be conferred at the successful completion of the doctoral comprehensive exam. For such students, however, two years of registration in the Jesuit School are required.

At least one member of the student's comprehensive committee or their dissertation committee must be from the Jesuit School faculty, depending on whether they submit a comprehensive paper or a portion of the dissertation in lieu of the S.T.L. thesis. A substantial proportion of their course work must be taken from the Jesuit School faculty.

The GTU student is expected to fulfill the S.T.L. course requirements as stated above while registered in the GTU program. In addition, in lieu of the S.T.L. thesis, the student should submit to the Jesuit School Academic Dean's Office either (1) one of the papers used in preparation for the comprehensive examinations, or (2) a portion of the final dissertation. The paper should be of comparable length and quality to that of the S.T.L. thesis.

S.T.L. students who are concurrently enrolled in the GTU doctoral program are required to be affiliated with the Jesuit School.

GTU doctoral students should request that an official transcript be sent to the Jesuit School Academic Dean's Office once they have completed the required coursework, fulfilled the modern language requirement and passed the doctoral comprehensives.