Graduate Theological Foundation

The Graduate Theological Foundation (GTF) is an American nonprofit interreligious institution of higher learning, originally founded in Indiana but now centered in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. Unlike traditional residential theological schools, the foundation focuses on continuing educational opportunities for practicing ministry professionals, administrators, and academics who want to pursue advanced degrees while retaining their current position. Students and faculty reside around the world, and scholarly work takes place through onsite, online and distance learning engagement. Students are eligible to earn bachelors, masters, and doctoral degrees in a variety of theological disciplines. Faculty members come from a broad spectrum of faith backgrounds, and many also serve on the faculty of established colleges and universities, including the University of Oxford, with which the foundation has a continuing education affiliation through the Oxford Theology Summer School.
History.
The Graduate Theological Foundation was founded in 1962 after the Second Vatican Council. The Conference on Religious Development was originally commissioned to foster growing ecumenical relationships between Catholic and Protestant communions. The foundation emerged from a variety of residential programs held by the conference in Madison, Connecticut.
At first the foundation was formed as a traditional continuing education center for clergy, with a retreat model incorporating individuals or small groups working with creative curriculum, full on-site student residency and a dedicated faculty. At the urging of students and faculty for more flexible educational opportunities, the foundation created a new program requiring only part-time residency.
Over the years the foundation has evolved into a self-directed education model designed to be responsive to the 21st-century needs of ministry professionals across the globe. Students and faculty engage through online, distance and onsite learning methods. The foundation has scholarly partnerships with academic institutions around the world where graduate degree students may complete their course work.
The foundation is an independent non-profit body with tax-exempt status on both the state (Indiana) and federal levels. The foundation is incorporated in the state of Indiana and is authorized to award advanced degrees in various fields of theological study. It is a member of the Association of American Colleges and Universities.
Academics.
The Graduate Theological Foundation's continuing education model is designed for working clergy, academics and administrators to earn advanced degrees while retaining their current position. Faculty and students engage through online, on-site and distance learning engagements. The foundation also enters in partnerships with traditional universities both in the U.S. and internationally where students may complete academic requirements toward their degree. Students have a large degree of flexibility in helping to design their curriculum in conjunction with faculty, and in determining their own time frame for earning degrees.
Graduate degrees are divided into professional and academic degrees. Professional degrees are practice-oriented in the relevant field of study with an emphasis on topical issues and solutions to identifiable challenges. Final projects are evaluated by faculty before a degree is awarded, with no oral defense required. Academic degrees are geared toward research and require a master's or doctoral thesis before a degree is awarded. An oral defense of the thesis is required for doctoral degrees.
Bachelor's degrees can also be earned through a degree completion program for students in pastoral positions and are available in three areas; theological studies, religious education and sacred music.
Faculty.
Faculty members number approximately 70 and come from a wide array of faith backgrounds and areas of specialization. A majority of faculty also hold positions at other universities or institutions.
Foundation professorships fall into two categories: visiting faculty, which indicates temporary association through special arrangement, and named professorships, reflecting permanent members of the faculty who make up the bulk of the teaching staff.
Since most faculty members reside offsite, professors and students engage through a variety of distance, online and onsite learning. Faculty are required to evaluate the written coursework of students, evaluate their degree projects and research theses, act as doctoral thesis supervisors and offer tutorials.
Notable faculty members include:
Student makeup.
Graduate Theological Foundation students come from a large geographical spectrum, including all 50 U.S. states and 64 countries. Statistics compiled by the foundation state that approximately 30% of alumni were employed in parish ministry at the time of graduation, with 22% working in education, 15% in counseling and 8% in administration. The average student body age is 51 years old, and 66% are male while 34% are female. Approximately 78% of foundation students are clergy.
Students also come from a wide range of faith backgrounds, with Protestant the majority at 56%. Catholics make up 36% of students, Muslims 7%, 1% are Jewish and 1% Buddhist (percentages are rounded).
Publications and collections.
Direct publications of the Graduate Theological Foundation reflect its student body of working ministry professionals engaged in pastoral, educational, health-related or counseling vocation.
"The Oxford Theology Monograph" is a gathering of essays written by faculty members related to course work at the University of Oxford Theology Summer School, a partnership between the Foundation and the University Oxford that has existed since 1994.
"Foundation Theology" is an annual collection of essays written by students and faculty of the Foundation deemed worthy of special consideration and publication.
There are several notable collections of books, personal papers and other media of interest to theological researchers housed at GTF's Indiana campus. This includes the Macquarrie Project, a multimedia collection relating to Christian theologian Canon John Macquarrie, that includes his personal research library, audio recordings of Macquarrie's lectures, library notations and a tome of sermons.
Accreditation.
The Graduate Theological Foundation does not hold accreditation through either the United States Department of Education (USDE) or the Council for Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA). GTF is not categorized as a traditional college, seminary or university and its educational model does not qualify as either strictly residential or distance learning. As an educational foundation, GTF is incorporated by the state of Indiana and is chartered by the state to award advanced degrees in various fields of theological study.
Affiliations and summer programs.
The Graduate Theological Foundation maintains affiliations with other institutions of higher learning around the world, where students may complete academic coursework toward a degree. This includes the University of Oxford's Department for Continuing Education. This partnership, established in 1994, allows foundation students to complete some or all of their graduate studies during the annual Oxford Theology Summer School hosted at Christ Church College.
The foundation has a similar arrangement with the Centro Pro Unione in Rome, Italy, with a summer course allowing students to study in the historic palazzo Doria Pamphilj on Piazza Navona.
The foundation also holds affiliations with members of P.R.I.M.E. (Partnering Resources in Ministry Education), a network of 16 institutions of higher learning where students taking courses at P.R.I.M.E. affiliate institutions may earn credit toward their GTF degree.
These academic affiliations are for the benefit of foundation students wishing to study abroad and do not imply academic credentialing or the awarding of a degree from the partner institution.