DTS (Dallas Theological Seminary), my alma mater, has developed a Seminary Comparison website. It includes comparisons of up to 26 schools by 1) living factors (city info and living costs), 2) school data, and 3) degree costs (by masters and doctorate levels).
Their description:
The following information provides a synthesis of various factors through recognized, public organizations. Cost of living and city analysis is provided through bestplaces.net and is updated annually. Educational costs are provided through each institution’s public site. School data is provided by the Association of Theological School’s public site and reflects the most recent “census” data published by ATS (currently Sept 2006).
It’s a helpful comparison. I’m a little surprised that a school would have it, but since Dallas is in a lower cost of living area vs. the US average, I suppose they come out better than most on costs.
I was a little surprised to see that Wheaton is missing, but I suppose it isn’t technically a seminary. Ross at Triforce notes that you should look closely at enrollment numbers because it groups part-time and full-time students, but if you click on ‘source’ you get a breakout of details.
Friday, 10 August 2007 at 10:00 pm
Thanks for the link. How do you do the ping and trackback from your own site? I am proud to have made it through the Greek NT. I started using the list from Daniel Wallace that you posted. I had to switch some for a change in genre. Luke and Acts are fun, but beware of Hebrews. It is a monster!
Saturday, 11 August 2007 at 11:54 am
I just do the link like I did in the post, and I suppose the ping/trackback occurs automatically–not really sure how it works.
2 Corinthians was pretty bad, so Hebrews should be a lot of fun.
Tuesday, 12 August 2008 at 6:41 pm
Hey Ben,
I realize that this is an old post but I have a question for you. Your website has been helpful for me.
I’m currently in the process of applying to seminaries for my M.Div. I plan to follow my M.Div with a Ph.D. in N.T. Right now I want to go to a solid evangelical/conservative seminary that doesn’t lack in academics. I have been accepted so far to Asbury and Wake Forest University Divinity School. I’m leaning towards Wake because I think that Wake would look better to Ph.D. programs. However, I believe that I would rather study at Asbury with Ben Witherington. Do Ph.D. programs, especially in the U.K., have a positive impression with Asbury? Should I go with a better known school like Wake or Duke?
Thanks,
Josh
Wednesday, 13 August 2008 at 7:23 pm
I’m not as familiar with WF as with Asbury, so I asked around at the office for ideas there as well. We were of the mind that any major school would be about equivalent, unless it were possibly an ivy league or equivalent. As you noted on the acceptance rate post, getting in is usually not the biggest hurdle—funding is. For funding gpa, recommendations, and the proposal are the 3 biggest factors. Obviously, a well-known and respected school and referers are given more credence. One other aspect is after-PhD job opportunities. Since Asbury, for example, is bigger you’ve got more of a chance of getting a job there later or making contacts with a larger number of people. Unless there is somebody at WF that you just really want to study with, which it sounds like there isn’t, I would go with Asbury (or Duke) since they’ll give you more variety in profs to study with.
Godspeed on your studies. Ben