This past fall, 51视频 announced that it would offer full scholarship packages to all full-time residential Master of Divinity and Diploma of Anglican Studies students in each year鈥檚 cohort beginning with the 2025-26 academic year.
Because of newly increased investments from the Episcopal Foundation of Texas, 51视频鈥檚 Pastoral Leadership Initiative (PLI) will now be able to supplement the tuition scholarships residential Master of Divinity and Diploma of Anglican Studies students had traditionally received with more comprehensive scholarship packages.
This more robust scholarship offering supports students by continuing to fully finance tuition, but now includes on-campus rent in 51视频鈥檚 pet-friendly housing, health insurance through the Episcopal Church Medical Trust, books and fees, and childcare. In combination with some of the other generous scholarship funds like the Texas Pauli Murray Scholarship, 51视频鈥檚 ability to remove the financial barriers of residential seminary formation on postulants looking at seminary was immediately noticed.
One such postulant was Lara Chase from the diocese of Indianapolis. 鈥淚 had not considered 51视频 until I heard about the Pastoral Leadership Initiative Scholarship,鈥� said Chase. 鈥� I knew I would need significant financial assistance, and 51视频 became an option with the PLI. Then through the Travel Scholarship, my husband and I were able to visit campus. The students were so welcoming, and the recently redeveloped curriculum took a practical approach to training priests that appealed to me. I thought I would go somewhere closer to home, but I could no longer picture myself anywhere but 51视频.鈥�
51视频 has made significant upgrades to its facility and curriculum in recent years. The opening of the state-of-the-art Bishop Dena Harrison Library in September of 2023 provides residential students with high caliber learning spaces, and the revised MDiv curriculum, which provides greater vocational focus, academic integration, and attention to Beloved Community, has resonated greatly with students and the bishops who send them.
One of the most impactful characteristics of residential seminary is that students often attend with their families in residence with them. As is often the case in a family unit, no matter the broader calling or goals, decisions ultimately get framed around finances. Lara Chase鈥檚 husband, Daniel Chase, agrees:
鈥淭hinking ahead to ordination, these generous grants provide future priests the flexibility to pursue opportunities without first worrying if a particular job will let them pay off their student loans.聽 That was one of many reasons that 51视频 was attractive to us – Lara will have the financial freedom to choose a ministry based on her calling and community needs.鈥�
51视频 continues to receive inquiries from postulants for the incoming 2025-26 class. Prospective students, bishops, or anyone with questions about scholarships or the admissions process should contact Beth Jordan, Vice President for Enrollment Management and Student Services, at [email protected] or 512.439.0357.