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Admissions Information

Applications for our PhD program and the priority round of our Master’s programs are open from September 2, 2025 through January 5, 2026.

Dates and Deadlines
Candidate Statements
Federal Aid
Application Fees
GRE
International Students
Letters of Recommendation
Scholarships and Financial Aid
Transcripts
Writing Sample

Dates and Deadlines

Application Deadlines

  • PhD Program: Monday, January 5, 2026
  • Master's Programs Priority Round: Monday, January 5, 2026
  • Master's Programs Round 2: Thursday, April 9, 2026 (Final deadline for international students)
  • Master's Programs Round 3: Tuesday, June 9, 2026 (Final deadline for domestic students)

Admission to the Divinity School is offered annually. PhD and priority round decisions are typically released by mid-March. Masters program applicants should apply by the Priority Round deadline to be considered for the full range of scholarship options available at the Divinity School.

Candidate Statements

The statement should articulate the questions or problems that motivate your pursuit of a graduate degree in religion, the aspects of your prior work (broadly construed) that suggest you’ll be successful in the degree program, and the reasons you think the Divinity School is a good place to do your work. The statement should be future-directed and inquiry-based. It should not be an exercise in intellectual or spiritual autobiography; it should convey a sense of your project and indicate your preparedness to undertake it.

Applicants are encouraged to include information about University resources and faculty interlocutors that they might find helpful while enrolled. If your research agenda implies facility with particular languages (e.g. Arabic, Turkish, Hebrew, and/or Persian for a project in Islamic Studies; Koine Greek, Attic Greek, and/or Aramaic for a project in early Christian literature), the statement, and the application more broadly, should discuss your degree of facility/fluency and your plans for additional work and development.

The candidate statement prompts are below as follows:

AMRS and MA Applicants:

Applicants must submit a statement of academic purpose with the application and may either upload a document or copy and paste the statement below. The purpose of this statement is to introduce yourself and articulate your reasons for applying to the University of Chicago Divinity School. This 1,500-word statement should address the following questions, striving to maintain a balance between broad statements of your interests and specific examples of your work to date and goals for the future.

  • Please tell us how you came to be interested in the academic study of religion. What prompted your intellectual journey? What kinds of training, both general and specific, do you seek in this program, and why?
  • Please tell us about your intellectual project. What kinds of questions are you interested in pursuing in depth? What skills have you developed thus far, and what skills and knowledge do you especially seek to build in the MA program?
  • Where do you locate your scholarship among the various sub-disciplines and areas within the study of religion and related fields across the University of Chicago? Who do you imagine to be your intellectual interlocutors within the University of Chicago and why? What are your career plans once you complete the program? What resources (faculty, programs, library holdings, research centers, etc.) at the University of Chicago do you anticipate being most valuable for your academic and professional development?

MDiv Applicants:

Applicants must submit a statement of academic purpose with the application and may either upload a document or copy and paste the statement below. The purpose of this statement is to introduce yourself and articulate your reasons for applying to the University of Chicago Divinity School. This 1,500-word statement should address the following questions, striving to maintain a balance between broad statements of your interests and specific examples of your work to date and goals for the future.

  • Please tell us about yourself: What people, ideas, experiences, or events have led you to pursue an MDiv at the University of Chicago at this time in your life?
  • Please tell us how you came to be interested in the academic study of religion. What prompted your intellectual journey? What kinds of questions are you interested in pursuing? What skills have you developed thus far, and what skills and knowledge do you seek to grow in the MDiv program? How do your intellectual interests relate to and inform your philosophy on religious leadership and practice in general, and to your career aspirations in particular?
  • Please tell us about your conception of ministry and how you came to develop this framing. What does ministry mean to you? What kinds of work do you see yourself doing and why? What ministry experience have you had thus far, and what experience are you seeking while in the MDiv program?
  • Why do you want to pursue the MDiv at the University of Chicago? Why is it important to do this work in a multi-religious academic environment? Who do you imagine to be your intellectual interlocutors within the University of Chicago and why? What are your career plans once you complete the program? What resources (faculty, programs, library holdings, research centers, etc.) at the University of Chicago do you anticipate being most valuable for your academic and professional development?

PhD Applicants:

Applicants must submit a statement of academic purpose with the application and may either upload a document or copy and paste the statement below. The purpose of this statement is to introduce yourself and articulate your reasons for applying to the doctoral program at the University of Chicago Divinity School. This 1,500-word statement should address the following questions, striving to maintain a balance between broad statements of your interests and specific examples of your work to date and goals for the future.

  • Please tell us how you came to be interested in the academic study of religion. What kinds of training, both general and specific, do you seek in the doctoral program, and why?
  • Please tell us about your intellectual project. What kinds of questions are you interested in pursuing in depth? How do you presently articulate your research agenda, both in terms of breadth and depth? What skills have you developed thus far toward that agenda, and what skills and knowledge do you especially seek to build in the doctoral program? What kinds of sources are essential to your research?
  • Where do you locate your scholarship among the various sub-disciplines and areas within the study of religion and related fields across the University of Chicago? Who do you imagine to be your intellectual interlocutors both within the University of Chicago and in the field at large, and why? What resources (faculty, programs, library holdings, research centers, etc.) at the University of Chicago do you anticipate being most valuable for your academic and professional development?

Federal Aid

Eligible students can submit the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) online beginning in October of the application year. The University’s institutional code for the FAFSA is 001774. The Graduate Financial Aid Office will process your FAFSA and determine your eligibility for federal student loans and work-study eligibility. You will be able to see your federal aid eligibility or documents needed online through your my.UChicago portal.  

Application Fees

The Divinity School Application Fee is $75 and must be paid or waived before your application can be processed and evaluated, and is non-refundable. 

  • Requests for Application Fee Waivers are handled centrally by the UChicagoGRAD Graduate Admissions team. They are available for those who meet specific criteria, including UChicago alumni and participants in various recruitment and admissions sessions (code and appropriate documentation required).
  • If you believe you qualify for a waiver or have a code and documentation from attending an event, do not pay the application fee after submitting your application. Wait until you submit the waiver request and receive a decision (typically within 3 business days of submission). Please do not contact the Divinity School concerning your waiver request status.
  • If you submit your application on the deadline day and request a fee waiver, please still wait for a decision. We will check for updated application statuses throughout the week following deadlines.
  • If you have additional questions regarding Fees and Fee Waivers, please see the guidance provided by the UChicagoGRAD Graduate Admission team.

GRE

The Divinity School does not require applicants to our programs to submit GRE scores. Applicants will be fully considered for admission and scholarships regardless of whether or not GRE scores are submitted.

English Language Proficiency 

TOEFL/IELTS scores

To meet the proof of proficiency requirement, students may submit either:

The Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) internet-based test (iBT), including the standard at-home version or the International English Language Testing System (IELTS) Academic. Applicants are required to take the Academic Reading/Writing test within IELTS, not the General Training Reading/Writing test. Any other proficiency tests, exams, equivalent coursework, certificates/certifications, endorsement from faculty, and/or different measurements other than the TOEFL or IELTS are not accepted. This includes the IELTS “Indicator” test and the TOEFL ITP Plus.

TOEFL or IELTS score reports are valid for two years, and scores will be considered expired if the test was taken more than two years before the application deadline. If you send us a score that expires before the deadline you are applying under, you will need to send a more recent score. Photocopies or PDFs of TOEFL or IELTS Score Reports will not be considered valid or accepted instead of an official score report.

The minimum required score for the TOEFL is 104 overall, with four sub scores of 26 each. Minimum required scores in the IELTS are an overall score of 7, with sub scores of 7 each. Applicants with scores below the minimum threshold will not be considered for admission to the Divinity School.

Further information is available on Graduate Admissions’ website: https://grad.uchicago.edu/admissions/apply/english-language-requirements/frequently-asked-questions/

Letters of Recommendation

Letters of recommendation should be academic in nature, and should be from persons who know you well and can speak to your scholarly habits and strengths. For master’s applicants, undergraduate professors with whom you work(ed) closely are good options. MDiv applicants should include at least one letter from someone who can speak to their ministerial/leadership capacities and experience. PhD applicants are encouraged to solicit letters from persons who can talk to their master’s level academic work.

Students applying from life contexts where undergraduate or master’s level professors are not readily accessible or are unlikely to remember their work (e.g., second- or third-career students) might opt for letters from supervisors or colleagues. Still, they should ensure their referees understand that the letter aims to translate local, professional skills into a ministerial and/or academic research context.

Scholarships and Financial Aid 

International Students

Scholarship eligibility is not based on citizenship status, and there is no separate application for scholarship funding. See below for more information regarding scholarships and specific degrees.

  • International students, however, are not eligible to apply for Federal Aid, such as student loans or work study programs. For ways to fund your education in addition to Divinity School Scholarships, please make use of UChicagoGRAD’s Fellowship Database, in addition to resources available in your own country.

MA, MDiv, and AMRS Students

Under “Financial Data” in the application, applicants are asked if they wish to be considered for scholarships and fellowships offered by the University of Chicago. All applicants who select “Yes” are automatically considered for scholarship funding; there is no separate scholarship application. 

  • Scholarships for master's students are awarded based solely on faculty evaluation of the application materials. In recent years, scholarship offers have ranged from 40%-100% of tuition, with scholarships to the MA and MDiv typically receiving at least 80% of tuition costs. Exceptional applicants may be offered a small living stipend in addition to a scholarship. Scholarship notifications are included in the admission decision.
  • All Divinity School scholarships are renewable for each year of the academic program, provided good academic progress. Additionally, the Divinity School provides scholarship assistance for summer language study at the University.

PhD

All admitted doctoral students are offered a 7-year fellowship package that includes a full-tuition scholarship, coverage of the student premium of the University's Student Health Insurance Plan (USHIP), payment of quarterly student fees, and an annual living stipend. All Divinity programs begin in Autumn Quarter. PhD students may not defer admission and must start their studies in the year they were admitted.

Transcripts

Applicants do not need to submit official academic records. Unofficial transcripts, or accounts of coursework, are sufficient so long as they list the names of courses, instructors, dates, and grades earned. If you are admitted to a degree program, you will need to submit official records for all degree-granting institutions before starting the program.

Writing Sample

The writing sample is required for all applicants. It should be an academic paper between 15 and 25 pages that shows your ability to engage with educational research and make a scholarly argument. For master's applicants, the topic does not have to be related to religion, though this is encouraged where possible. For doctoral applicants, it should be legible in the academic study of religion and show some degree of engagement in your intended field and project. Writing samples of greater than 25 pages may not be read. For further questions about the writing sample, see Application FAQs.

Contact the Dean of Students' office at divinityadmissions@uchicago.edu.