Divinity/Ministry Degrees (2026 stats)
TL;DR
Divinity/Ministry maps to BLS occupations averaging about $64,987, with roughly 1,596,050 workers nationwide in those roles. About 604 bachelor's completions in IPEDS 2023; median program completion runs near 57%.
Key Statistics
Divinity/Ministry: what the data shows
Common questions about divinity/ministry degrees, answered from IPEDS, College Scorecard, BLS OEWS, and O*NET in this repository—not program marketing copy.
What is a divinity/ministry degree?
A Divinity/Ministry program is classified under NCES CIP 39.0602 in the Theological and Ministerial Studies field family (39.06).
A program that prepares individuals for ordination as ministers or priests in any of the Christian religious traditions. Includes instruction in the theology and polity of a particular church, church law, liturgy and ritual, principles of pastoral ministry, homiletics, evangelism, church/parish organization and management, Christian ethics, church history, and related studies
IPEDS counted 604 completions for this CIP in the survey year in our extract.
Types of divinity/ministry degrees and related programs
Other NCES program codes in the 39.06 family with pages on EDsmart Data:
- Pre-Theology/Pre-Ministerial Studies (CIP 39.0604)
- Rabbinical Studies (CIP 39.0605)
- Talmudic Studies (CIP 39.0606)
- Theology/Theological Studies (CIP 39.0601)
How long does it take to get a divinity/ministry degree?
Award levels reported to IPEDS for CIP 39.0602 in our file:
- 117 Associate (2.1% of IPEDS total)—about two years of full-time study
- 604 Bachelor's (10.6% of IPEDS total)—typically four years
- 4,958 Master's (87.3% of IPEDS total)—one to two years beyond a bachelor's
- 1 Doctorate (0.0% of IPEDS total)—varies by program
Time to completion depends on enrollment intensity and transfer credits; figures above describe credential type, not calendar time for every student.
What do you learn in divinity/ministry?
O*NET skill ratings for occupations mapped to this major emphasize Reading Comprehension, Active Listening, Speaking, Writing, Critical Thinking, Service Orientation, and related competencies. See the Skills section for the full list in our extract.
What degree do you need?
For Teachers, Postsecondary (top mapped occupation), O*NET incumbent surveys in our career profile report these education credentials most often: Some college (29%), High School or Equivalent (27%), Bachelors Degree (22%).
O*NET education distributions describe incumbent workers, not minimum legal or employer requirements.
What jobs can you get with a divinity/ministry degree?
Our degree→occupation mapping links Divinity/Ministry to the BLS roles below. Employment is U.S. OEWS; median wage is national May 2024 where published in our extract.
| Occupation | U.S. employment | Median annual wage |
|---|---|---|
| Teachers, Postsecondary | 1,500,000 | — |
| Secondary School Teachers | 1,072,540 | $64,580 |
See Careers & Jobs for mean wages and industry context.
Is a divinity/ministry degree worth it?
College Scorecard national medians for the Theological and Ministerial Studies bachelor's program family: median debt $37,365, median earnings $44,535 four years after enrollment. Debt-to-earnings proxy: 1.16.
About 5.1% of graduates in this field family were not working and not enrolled one year after completion in Scorecard's national program medians.
Among schools reporting in our Scorecard extract, median published in-state tuition is $7,172 and median net price is $22,300.
We do not score "worth" on opinion—compare debt, earnings, wages for mapped occupations, and completion data above against your cost and career target.
Institutions
Information about the types of higher education institutions that grant degrees in Divinity/Ministry and the types of students that study this field.
Tuition Costs for Common Institutions
$7,172 Median In-State Public
$30,265 Median Out of State Private
Tuition costs for Divinity/Ministry majors are, on average, $7,172 for in-state public colleges, and $30,265 for out of state private colleges.
Tuition costs comparison for Divinity/Ministry programs.
Degrees Awarded Over Time
604 Total Degrees Awarded in 2023
This chart shows the number of degrees awarded in Divinity/Ministry from 2015 to 2023.
Historical trend of degrees awarded in Divinity/Ministry.
Top 5 Schools by Enrollment
| # | School | State | Enrollment |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Grand Canyon University | AZ | 73,371 |
| 2 | Grand Canyon University | AZ | 73,371 |
| 3 | Grand Canyon University | AZ | 73,371 |
| 4 | Liberty University | VA | 50,012 |
| 5 | Liberty University | VA | 50,012 |
Schools with the largest enrollment offering Divinity/Ministry programs.
Top 5 Most Affordable Tuition
| # | School | State | Tuition |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Berkeley School of Theology | CA | $2,856 |
| 2 | Berkeley School of Theology | CA | $2,856 |
| 3 | Berkeley School of Theology | CA | $2,856 |
| 4 | Grace Mission University | CA | $3,370 |
| 5 | Grace Mission University | CA | $3,370 |
Schools with the lowest tuition costs for Divinity/Ministry programs.
Top 5 Lowest Net Price
| # | School | State | Net Price |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | College of Biblical Studies-Houston | TX | $672 |
| 2 | San Diego Christian College | CA | $992 |
| 3 | Trinity International University-Illinois | IL | $2,835 |
| 4 | Trinity International University-Illinois | IL | $2,835 |
| 5 | Trinity International University-Illinois | IL | $2,835 |
Schools with the lowest average net price for Divinity/Ministry programs.
Graduation Rates
57.18% Median Graduation Rate (150% of normal time)
56.23% Average Graduation Rate
552 Institutions Reporting
42.86% - 69.20% Interquartile Range
Graduation/completion rates for Divinity/Ministry programs across institutions.
Where students complete this major (IPEDS)
Bachelor's-level completions (IPEDS Completions, award level 5) summed by institution state. State is taken from IPEDS Directory (HD2023) for each reporting institution.
Geographic concentration
The largest number of reported bachelor's completions for Divinity/Ministry is in FL (263 completions). That state represents about 43.5% of U.S. bachelor's completions reported for this CIP in the IPEDS file we use.
Among states, the highest concentration relative to all bachelor's degrees awarded in-state is OK (0.14% of that state's bachelor's completions).
Top states by count of bachelor's completions for this CIP (IPEDS).
| State | Bachelor's completions (this CIP) | % of U.S. total (this CIP) | % of state's all bachelor's |
|---|---|---|---|
| FL | 263 | 43.5% | 0.12% |
| MO | 57 | 9.4% | 0.08% |
| OK | 57 | 9.4% | 0.14% |
| TN | 48 | 8.0% | 0.07% |
| NC | 45 | 7.5% | 0.04% |
| VA | 45 | 7.5% | 0.04% |
| CO | 15 | 2.5% | 0.02% |
| PA | 15 | 2.5% | 0.01% |
| TX | 12 | 2.0% | 0.00% |
| IN | 11 | 1.8% | 0.01% |
| OR | 8 | 1.3% | 0.02% |
| IL | 6 | 1.0% | 0.00% |
| LA | 6 | 1.0% | 0.01% |
| GA | 5 | 0.8% | 0.00% |
| CA | 4 | 0.7% | 0.00% |
| ID | 4 | 0.7% | 0.01% |
| AR | 2 | 0.3% | 0.01% |
| MI | 1 | 0.2% | 0.00% |
Related specializations
Other NCES program codes in the 39.06 CIP family with dedicated pages on EDsmart Data.
- Pre-Theology/Pre-Ministerial Studies CIP 39.0604
- Rabbinical Studies CIP 39.0605
- Talmudic Studies CIP 39.0606
- Theology/Theological Studies CIP 39.0601
Degree Levels (IPEDS)
Completions reported to IPEDS for CIP 39.0602 in the survey year used in our extract (5,680 total across levels below).
- 117 Associate (2.1% of IPEDS total)
- 604 Bachelor's (10.6% of IPEDS total)
- 4,958 Master's (87.3% of IPEDS total)
- 1 Doctorate (0.0% of IPEDS total)
Source: IPEDS Completions (c2024_a), summed by award level for this CIP.
Careers & Jobs
Occupations linked to this major in our degree→career mapping, with wages and employment from processed BLS career profiles in this repo.
Across these BLS occupations, employment-weighted mean pay is about $64,987. Figures are national OEWS estimates for the occupation—not earnings of Divinity/Ministry graduates alone.
Related occupations (BLS OEWS)
| Occupation | Mean annual wage | U.S. employment |
|---|---|---|
| Teachers, Postsecondary | $36,511 | 1,500,000 |
| Secondary School Teachers | $104,813 | 1,072,540 |
Open each occupation for full career profile charts and industry breakdowns on EDsmart Data.
Program outcomes (College Scorecard)
National medians across bachelor's programs in the Theological and Ministerial Studies CIP family (4 programs reporting debt). Not specific to every Divinity/Ministry graduate.
- $37,365 median federal loan debt among completers
- $44,535 median earnings four years after enrollment (national program median)
- 1.16 debt-to-earnings ratio (Scorecard proxy)
- 5.1% of graduates not working and not enrolled one year out (program cohort)
Source: College Scorecard program-level outcomes aggregated by 4-digit CIP family.
Employment
Wages and industry mix below use BLS OEWS data for occupations linked to this major in our mapping—not a graduate earnings survey.
Yearly Income for Common Jobs
$40,621 Average Wage in Workforce
The average salary for Divinity/Ministry majors is $40,621.
Average annual salaries of the most common occupations for Divinity/Ministry majors.
Occupations by Share
1,596,050 2023 Workforce
The number of Divinity/Ministry graduates in the workforce has been growing.
Various jobs filled by those with a major in Divinity/Ministry by share of the total number of graduates.
Diversity
Demographic information for those who earn a degree in Divinity/Ministry in the United States.
Workforce Age
N/A Average Age in 2023
This chart shows distribution of ages for employees with a degree in Divinity/Ministry.
Age distribution for Divinity/Ministry degree holders in the workforce.
Gender Distribution
Counts below are bachelor's-level completions only (IPEDS Completions, award level 5).
604 Total Degrees Awarded
346 Male (57.28%)
258 Female (42.72%)
Gender distribution of Divinity/Ministry degree recipients.
Race and Ethnicity Distribution
Counts below are bachelor's-level completions only (IPEDS Completions, award level 5).
407 White (67.38%)
76 Hispanic or Latino (12.58%)
46 Black or African American (7.62%)
20 Asian (3.31%)
18 Two or More Races (2.98%)
Racial and ethnic distribution of Divinity/Ministry degree recipients.
Degrees Awarded
The most common degree types awarded to students graduating in Divinity/Ministry are Bachelors Degree, Masters Degree, and Associates Degree.
Distribution of degree types awarded in Divinity/Ministry.
Skills
Data on the critical and distinctive skills necessary for those working in the Divinity/Ministry field from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Required Skills
Divinity/Ministry majors need many skills, but most especially Critical Thinking, Active Listening, and Reading Comprehension.
Rating of how necessary various skills are for Divinity/Ministry majors.
Skills Bar Chart
This bar chart shows the same information as the radar chart, displaying the importance of each skill.
Skill importance ratings for Divinity/Ministry majors.
About
A program that prepares individuals for ordination as ministers or priests in any of the Christian religious traditions. Includes instruction in the theology and polity of a particular church, church law, liturgy and ritual, principles of pastoral ministry, homiletics, evangelism, church/parish organization and management, Christian ethics, church history, and related studies
In 2023, 604 degrees were awarded across all undergraduate and graduate programs in Divinity/Ministry.
CIP Code
39.0602 - Divinity/Ministry
What the data shows
At the program-family level, College Scorecard reports median debt of $37,365 for bachelor's completers and median earnings near $44,535, a debt-to-earnings ratio of 1.16. Those figures describe national program cohorts in this CIP family—not every individual Divinity/Ministry graduate.
Men earned 32.3% of 6,724 Divinity/Ministry completions in the IPEDS file used here.
Mapped BLS occupations show employment-weighted mean pay of about $64,987. The largest mapped role by headcount is Teachers, Postsecondary (1,500,000 U.S. jobs in OEWS).
Published tuition medians in College Scorecard land at $7,172 in-state at public colleges and $30,265 at private institutions for programs in this field.
Data Sources
This page uses data from the following sources:
- College Scorecard - U.S. Department of Education
- Institutional characteristics, costs, completion rates, and earnings data
- Data years: 2015-2024
- Source: collegescorecard.ed.gov
- Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS)
- Employment and wage data by occupation
- Latest data: May 2024
- Source: bls.gov/oes
- O*NET Online - U.S. Department of Labor
- Occupational skills, knowledge, abilities, and work activities
- Database version: 28.0 (August 2023)
- Source: onetcenter.org
- IPEDS (Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System) - National Center for Education Statistics
- Institutional data, completions, enrollment, and financial aid
- Data years: 2015-2024
- Source: nces.ed.gov/ipeds
- Census Bureau American Community Survey (ACS)
- Demographic and workforce data
- Latest data: 2023 ACS 5-Year Estimates
- Source: census.gov/acs
Data Processing: All data has been processed, cleaned, and aggregated for presentation. Where specific data points are unavailable, estimates are based on available data and clearly marked.
Last Updated: Data reflects the most recent available information as of January 2025.
Methodology
Data for this profile is sourced from the U.S. Department of Education's College Scorecard dataset, IPEDS completion data, and Bureau of Labor Statistics employment data.
All financial figures are adjusted for inflation and represent the most recent available data. Employment and wage data are from the most recent Census Bureau ACS PUMS estimates.